Chess Candidates 2024, Round 2 Highlights: Vidit beats Hikaru; Vaishali loses to Zhongyi; Gukesh wins vs Praggnanandhaa; Humpy draws vs Lagno

Wow, six decisive results out of the eight games today. The sibling duo of Pragg and Vaishali had a tough outing today. Humpy made a comfortable draw against Lagno but the highlight of the day would be Vidit’s win against World No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura. Gukesh also goes back with a full point before we get to see another all-Indian clash between Pragg and Vidit in round three. 

This is it from Sportstar’s round two coverage! 

Firouzja resigns and Ian Nepomniachtchi outlasts the Frenchman in a tactical skirmish to win his first game of the Candidates. All four games in the open section gave a decisive result. 

The only game left in the second round is between Firouzja and Nepo with the latter on the brink of a win. It’s now about Firouzja’s defensive abilities who is trying to hold off the Russian. 

Another decisive result. Anna Muzychuk resigns against Aleksandra Goryachkina. 

Here comes the resignation. Pragg resigns on the 33rd move and Gukesh notches up his first win of the Candidates. Insane match and eventually it was Gukesh who came out winning in this match-up. 

Gukesh is winning against Praggnanandhaa after queen to g4 and pawn push in the h5 square. Seems like a lost position for Pragg. 

Looks like we’ll get at least three decisive results in the open section today. Two-time Candidates winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi is in a winning position against Alireza Firouzja. 

Another big result coming in. Fabiano Caruana has also won his game. He beat Nijat Abasov with white pieces in 37 moves. 

Match report - Vidit Gujrathi vs Hikaru Nakamura

Vidit Gujrathi beats Hikaru Nakamura in round two of Candidates 2024

Candidates 2024: Vidit Gujrathi beats Hikaru Nakamura in the second round of the Candidates 2024 tournament happening in Toronto, Canada.

There comes the confirmation, Vidit Gujrathi has just registered his first win of the tournament! 

Vidit is on the verge of beating the World No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura. We’re just moments away from the confirmation. 

The perpetual checks from Kateryna Lagno’s while queen ends in a draw. Koneru Humpy plays out a second draw in as many games. 

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian GM Anna Muzychuk has only a little over 100 seconds left against Aleksandra Goryachkina. 

The game between Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa is heating up big time. Gukesh only has 16 minutes on the clock with no increment till the 40th move. Only 21 moves have been made until now. 

Li Tingjie and Nurgyul Salimova play a quiet draw by repetition on the 38th move. 

After beating defending Women’s Candidates champion Li Tingjie, Tan Zhongyi has handed Vaishali a defeat in the second round. 

Big news coming up, Vaishali has lost her game against Tan Zhongyi! The Chinese now has 2.0/2

Vidit is clearly in a better position now. Hikaru’s bishop to e2 was another inaccuracy and the 29-year-old Indian now will fancy his chance to convert this position. 

Vaishali is in big time scramble against Zhongyi. She only has 13 minutes on the clock while the Chinese has close to an hour (50 minutes) with 13 more moves to be played before 30 minutes additional time. 

Hikaru spends 19 minutes retreating his bishop back on the d3 square and the engine favours Vidit’s position, yet again! 

Gukesh answers with a pawn push to c6 which is not the best move in this position. 

Pragg who had 1 hr 50 minutes on the clock, took over 40 minutes to play his 17th move which is a positional blunder according to the engines. Gukesh is now the one with the positional advantage. 

The rook, bishop and knight have been exchanged in the Humpy vs Lagno game and it looks a clear-cut draw from here. 

Fabiano Caruana’s rook battery coming into play and a week f5 pawn for Nijat Abasov makes this position favourable for the American. 

With Vidit retreating back with knight to d7 and bishop taking pawn the advantage seemed to have gone for the Indian. So interesting to see how Vidit manoeuvres his pieces from here. 

The game between Koneru Humpy and Kateryna Lagno is proceeding towards a draw. After rook exchange and bishop-takes-pawn, bishop-takes-bishop and queen-takes-bishop, the match is going towards the queen’s endgame. 

“Gukesh vs Pragg is fascinating. Pragg seems to be in his opening preparation, while Gukesh is down by more than an hour”

Viswanathan Anand on comms. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi is playing a very attacking game against Alireza Firouzja. He has sacrificed his d3 pawn before pushing his h-file pawn to h4 first and then h5. His king is also very open, unlike Firouzja’s king which seems to be quite safe for now. 

Vaishali is down to 45 minutes against Tan Zhongyi with 23 more moves to happen before getting the additional 30 minutes. 

Will Hikaru’s knight-to-C4 move against Vidit come back to haunt him?

Praggnanandhaa marches his central pawn ahead. Gukesh is now two pawns up and could potentially take the third one as well! However, Pragg has over 1 hr 50 minutes so it could possibly be his preparation. 

Dutch GM Anish Giri on Vidit’s preparation against Hikaru today. 

Difficult to interpret here but Hikaru’s knight to c4 seems to be a mistake and the engines are giving a big positional advantage to Vidit here. 

Vidit offers his full piece! Would you believe it? He played his bishop to h3 in just 20 seconds which means he is clearly in his preparations and it is on Hikaru to play with utmost caution if he does not want to give any advantage to the Indian in this position. 

Similar situation in the Gukesh vs Pragg game. Gukesh is down to 1 hr 28 minutes but he is maintaining 100 per cent accuracy as per Stockfish 16 whereas Pragg is blitzing his move. 

Hikaru is thinking and Vidit is already 25 minutes ahead on the clock. Good early signs for the Indian here. 

Seems like Tan Zhongyi has caught Vaishali in her opening preparation. She is already down to 1 hr 10 mins compared to her Chinese counterpart who has hardly lost any time on the clock. Vaishali’s bishop to f5 in her seventh move costed her over 17 minutes. 

Similarly to Hikaru vs Vidit, Humpy and Lagno went with standard d4-d5 move but it’s Ruy Lopez closed opening once Lagno castled on the king side. 

In the all-Indian clash between Gukesh and Pragg, it’s the queen’s pawn e4-e5 move which has taken place. 

The Berlin Defence is a common opening often played at GM level. The move 3...Nf6 attacks the center and threatens the pawn on e4. The Berlin Defence also gets Black ready to castle quicker than in the Morphy’s Defence. When playing the Berlin Defence, Black must keep in mind the threat on his c6 Knight. Therefore Black must soon consider a way of negating the threat and defending e5 as the game transitions into the middle game.

Lichess

After the king’s knight opening, Hikaru’s bishop to b5 makes it a Ruy Lopez: Berline Defense. 

Hikaru Nakamura starts with king’s pawn opening -- e4 with white, Vidit counters with standard e5. 

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D Gukesh vs R. Praggnanandha, FIDE Chess Candidates 2024: Round 2 match highlights

FIDE Candidates 2024: India’s D Gukesh got the better of compatriot R Praggnanandha in their Round 2 match in Toronto on Saturday.

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Hikaru Nakamura vs Vidit GujrathI, FIDE Candidates 2024: Round 2 match highlights

FIDE Candidates 2024: India’s Vidit Gujrathi pipped America’s Hikaru Nakamura to secure his first win of the tournament during a second round match in Toronto on Saturday.

Vidit Gujrathi is already in his seat, waiting for his rival Hikaru Nakamura! The Indian has black pieces. 

The time control for the open category is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 41.

For the women’s category, it is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move one.

Open

• Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 2758) – qualified as the previous World Championship match runner-up.
• Praggnanandhaa R (India, 2747) – qualified as the 2023 World Cup runner-up.
• Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2804) – qualified as the third-place finisher at the 2023 World Cup.
• Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan, 2632) – qualified as the fourth-place finisher at the 2023 World Cup after the winner, Magnus Carlsen, declined his right to participate.
• Vidit Gujrathi (India, 2747) – qualified as the 2023 Grand Swiss winner.
• Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2789) – qualified as the 2023 Grand Swiss runner-up.
• Alireza Firouzja (France, 2760) – qualified as the best by rating on January 1, 2024.
• Gukesh D (India, 2747) – qualified as the 2023 FIDE Circuit winner.

Women’s

• Kateryna Lagno (FIDE, 2542) – qualified as the 2022−23 Women’s Grand Prix winner.

• Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2553) – qualified as the 2022−23 Women’s Grand Prix runner-up.

• Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria, 2426) – qualified as the 2023 Women’s World Cup runner-up.

• Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, 2520) – qualified as the third-place finisher at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

• Vaishali R (India, 2481) – qualified as the 2023 Women’s Grand Swiss winner.

• Tan Zhongyi (China, 2521) – qualified as the 2023 Women’s Grand Swiss runner-up.

• Humpy Koneru (India, 2546) – qualified as the best by rating on January 1, 2024. The rating spot became available as a replacement for the Women’s World Cup winner since Goryachkina had already qualified through the WGP.

Open

D. Gukesh 0.5-0.5 Vidit Gujrathi 

Ian Nepomniachtchi 0.5-0.5 Nijat Abasov

R. Praggnanandhaa 0.5-0.5 Alireza Firouzja

Hikaru Nakamura 0.5-0.5 Fabiano Caruana

Women’s

Tan Zhongyi 1-0 Li Tingjie

Vaishali Rameshbabu 0.5-0-5 Koneru Humpy

Anna Muzychuk 0.5-Nurgyul Salimova

Aleksandra Goryachkina 0.5-0.5 Kateryna Lagno

Want to catch up on what happened in the first round? We got you! 

Chess Candidates 2024, Round 1 Highlights: Praggnanandhaa-Firouzja; Vaishali-Humpy, Vidit-Gukesh all end in draw

FIDE Candidates 2024, LIVE: Get the live updates, analysis and commentary of the first round of the FIDE Candidates 2024, happening in Toronto, Canada on April 5, Friday (India). 

Open

Hikaru Nakamura - Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 

Praggnanandhaa R - Gukesh D 

Ian Nepomniachtchi - Alireza Firouzja 

Fabiano Caruana - Nijat Abasov 

Women’s

Kateryna Lagno - Humpy Koneru 

Tan Zhongyi - Vaishali Rameshbabu 

Nurgyul Salimova - Lei Tingjie 

Aleksandra Goryachkina - Anna Muzychuk

Open Category: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura, Nijat Abasov, Vidit Gujrathi, R. Praggnanandhaa, D. Gukesh

Women’s Category: Lei Tingjie, Kateryna Lagno, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Anna Muzychuk, Nurgyul Salimova, Tan Zhongyi, R. Vaishali, Koneru Humpy

Where to watch the live stream of the Candidates 2024 chess?

The live streaming of the Candidates 2024 will be available on the FIDE YouTube channel.

Which TV channel will broadcast the Candidates 2024 chess?

There has been no official announcement for the broadcasting of the Candidates 2024 in India.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the second round of the FIDE Chess Candidates 2024, happening in Toronto, Canada on April 6, Saturday (IST). Stay tuned as we take you through all the live action.