2020 TiC Candidates

With another convincing victory today, Nepomniachtchi is cementing his spot as the clear leader. He now stands with 4.5/6, while MVL trails in clear second with 3.5/6. Round 6 produced many hard fought games, including a thrilling marathon battle between Kirill Alekseenko and Anish Giri which lasted 98 moves and over 7 hours.

After five rounds of play, a sole leader has finally emerged. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Wang Hao in the only decisive game of the day. He now leads the field with 3.5 points while MVL sits in clear second with 3 points. Although the other games were drawn, chess fans were treated to many hard fought battles and fascinating positions.

With yesterday’s rest day, it was clear that the players entered Round 4 with a renewed sense of energy. For the first time this event, all of the games of the round were drawn. Nepomniachtchi, MVL, and Wang Hao remain atop the leaderboard with 2.5/4. Despite the absence of decisive games today, chess fans still got to witness several hard fought battles.

After starting the tournament with two straight losses, GM Ding Liren rebounded strongly today. He took down GM Fabiano Caruana in a thrilling game to score his first win of the event. This turned out to be the only decisive game of round 3, even though the other games were hard fought. MVL, Nepomniachtchi, and Wang Hao now share the lead with 2/3, while Caruana and Grischuk trail closely behind with 1.5/2.

“This tournament is not about rating. This tournament is about hunger and form.” These words from GM Maurice Ashley certainly held true on the second day of the FIDE Candidates. With dazzling wins from Fabiano Caruana and MVL, they join Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wang Hao atop the leaderboard with 1.5/2. Meanwhile, the woes continued for world #3 Ding Liren. He lost for the second day in a row and now sits in last place with 0/2.

Despite the cancellation of so many chess tournaments around the world due to the growing threat of Covid-19, the 2020 FIDE Candidates remains on schedule. The first round kicked off today in Yekaterinburg, Russia with eight of the world’s top players.