Candidates Chess: Sindarov one draw away from glory; Gukesh clash looms

NAGPUR: Youngest World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov is just a draw away from Candidates glory. The 20-year-old Uzbek Grandmaster made an effortless draw with World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in the 12th round of the Candidates Chess tournament in Cyprus on Sunday evening.

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With two rounds remaining, the World Cup winner took his tally of points to nine to continue his unbeaten run in Candidates chess history, that too as a debutant. Sindarov’s nearest rival, Dutch super GM Anish Giri failed to break the defensive Chinese wall of Wei Yi to secure a draw and is now two points behind the runaway leader. Even if Giri wins all his remaining rounds, Sindarov will need just a draw in one of his two games to clinch the Candidates tournament and emerge as the challenger to India’s youngest world champion D Gukesh – setting up a Generation Z clash.




In the 13th round, Sindarov will be defending with his black pieces against his nearest rival Anish Giri. In the last and 14th round, Sindarov will be playing with the white pieces against Chinese Wei Yi.

In the 12th-round top-board action, Sindarov picked the English Opening with Anglo-Indian, Queen’s Knight Variation against Nakamura. He earned a quick 33-move draw in just over an hour of play. As early as in the 15th move, Sindarov exchanged his queens. Thereafter, at the 27th turn, both the players traded their rooks to bring the position equal on the board with a bishop and six pawns each. Finally, the peace treaty was signed within the next six moves.

Vaishali loses, shares lead with Zhu

In the women's group, tournament leader Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered a 39-move defeat against China’s Zhu Jiner. On Vaishali’s King Pawn opening, Zhu chose the Caro-Kann Defense. A couple of mid-game inaccuracies from Vaishali gave Zhu an advantage on the board as well as on the clock. With Zhu on the verge of winning the positional battle, Vaishali resigned. Despite the defeat, Vaishali shares the lead on top with Zhu.

Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk looked in a commanding position against Aleksandra Goryachkina but failed to garner full points for the lead after a 71-move draw. At the end the women's group has a two-way tie on top between Vaishali and Zhu at 7 points each.
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