Candidates Chess: Sindarov set for an encore; Muzychuk in charge

NAGPUR: World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov is four wins and three draws away from winning the Candidates in Cyprus.

With five wins, two draws and six points from seven games, Uzbekistan’s 20-year-old youngest Candidate has already achieved the best score at the halfway mark of the tournament since the eightplayer double round-robin format was adopted in 2013.




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Even if Sindarov splits the points in the next seven games, he will match the best ever score of the tournament, which Ian Nepomni -a c h t c h i achieved to win the 2022 Candidates, collecting 9.5 points from 14 rounds. In his Candidates debut, the way Sindarov delivered in the first half, the change of ends against the seven remaining Candidates looks like a cakewalk for the youngest winner of the chess World Cup in Goa six months ago.

While the veteran of the Candidates tournament Fabiano Caruana is following Sindarov at 4.5 points, India’s Praggnanandhaa R and seasoned Dutch GM Anish Giri are holding on to joint third position with 3.5 points. If the trio of Caruana, Pragg and Giri garner a full point against Sindarov with some luck from the other four, then the open field will look like a battlefield.

In his post-game interview with Saint Louis Chess Club after he drew with Pragg, Caruana said he is not under pressure in Cyprus.

Will Cyprus prove lucky again for Ukraine’s Anna?

Anna Muzychuk qualified just a week before the start of the Candidates, after the withdrawal of India No. 1 Humpy Koneru. The 36-year-old highest-ranked Ukrainian GM now leads the women’s Candidates, undefeated and half a point ahead of the field.

Luckiest of the lot Vaishali R follows Anna at four points while Divya Deshmukh and Russian Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina, along with Chinese Zhu Jiner, are in joint third position.
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