(Uberto Delprato)
Gukesh Dommaraju won the recently concluded 2024 Candidates Tournament in Toronto. A victory obtained in the most dramatic of ways, beating Firouzja in the penultimate round and drawing with Nakamura in the last round, when the final draw between Caruana and Nepomniachtchi decided the final ranking. Heartfelt congratulations to the 17-year-old Indian and Tan Zhongyi, who won the 2024 Candidates’ Tournament by a large margin.
Candidates Tournament
A heart-pounding finale seen in Toronto! If anyone criticized the format of the Candidates Tournament as boring or even the classical cadence as now being sent to the attic, this was the tournament that proved it wrong. We have seen interesting matches, with players always motivated to look for new ways to put the opponent in difficulty, denying any cliché about presumably drawable variations, but above all we have seen the new generation of Indian players take the stage and conquer a place in the world title match, 10 years after Anand’s last match against Carlsen.
Gukesh played with the maturity of a veteran and deserved the win mainly due to his stability in playing well. He lost only one match, due to a sensational oversight, against Firouzja, but in the double round he didn’t lose any mini-match, beating Pragg, Vidit and Abasov.
The trio behind him includes three great champions who all have something to complain about. Nepomniachtchi because he finished the tournament undefeated again but wasn’t as incisive as he was used to; Nakamura because without the two defeats against Vidit he would at least be preparing for the play-off against Gukesh; Caruana for the unfortunate defeat against Nakamura which forced him to chase for the entire second round and for the missed opportunities in the last match against Nepo.
For the record (but also because… you never know, given what happened in the last match), Nakamura ranked second for the playoff criterion linked to matches won: he will be Gukesh’s challenger in case Ding Liren decides not to defend the title (not that there are any inklings of this, but it is a possibility to consider).
In the second part of the ranking, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit can smile, who played aggressively and obtained a result that can be defined as satisfactory. On the other hand, Firouzja, who went “off the rails” very early, and Abasov, from whom in reality not much was expected, did badly.
13th round – Gukesh surprisingly surpasses everyone!
The head-to-head clash between Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura ends in a rather disappointing draw: the Russian had the chance to gain some advantage from the unusual variant of the Spanish Spaniard played by Naka, but he played very conservatively and the repetition of moves was signed at the 27th move.
Everyone’s attention then shifted to Gukesh and Caruana’s attempts to beat Firouzja and Pragg respectively. After Vidit and Abasov had agreed on a draw that had no impact on the rankings, Caruana obtained a clear advantage by taking advantage of Praggnanandhaa’s submissive play in Rossolimo, while Gukesh and Firouzja battled in a dynamically balanced and never dry challenge.
In the end Caruana managed to consolidate the advantage with difficulty, thanks also to some errors from his opponent, Firouzja disunited and allowed Gukesh to show his technical skills again and win a fundamental match, which puts him at the top of the table. ranking on the eve of the last round, with half a point ahead of Nakamura, Caruana and Nepomniachtchi.
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The ranking that has been created and the direct clashes Nakamura-Gukesh and Caruana-Nepomniachtchi tell us that there will certainly be no Rapid play-offs between 3 or 4 players.
Gukesh is the only one who by winning will be able to guarantee the final victory, while all the others, despite winning, will have to hope that the Indian does not win to reach the Rapid play-off. Last note: in case of two draws, Gukesh will be Ding Liren’s challenger.
14th round – Entertainment between Caruana and Nepo, but the one smiling is Gukesh
The last round was obviously lived on the double between the four players still vying for the final victory, so the quick draw between Firouzja and Vidit and Praggnanandhaa’s victory over Abasov are not newsworthy.
The match between Nakamura and Gukesh was a surprisingly dull draw. The variant chosen by Nakamura to counter the Queen’s Gambit Accepted played by Gukesh was not at all effective and with a nice push to b4 the Indian neutralized all the dynamic possibilities in the position.
The final draw was painful for Nakamura, who saw the chance to fight for the world title slip away again, but there was really nothing to try. Congratulations to seventeen-year-old Gukesh, who with this draw guaranteed himself the match against Ding Liren and the leadership in the Elo list of Indian players, overtaking (definitively, I would say) Anand.
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Caruana and Nepomniachtchi both had only victory as an acceptable result and the challenge on the board was one of the most exciting in recent years. Fabiano always had the game in hand, but as the 40th move approached, a real show of attacks and counterattacks began, of incredible defenses and of evaluations that jumped from victory for White to a draw in one move. In the end, the draw was the conclusion: a pointless result for both, leaving both players understandably disappointed.
It is impossible to comment on the match (which ended around 2.30 am Italian time), so I am reporting it as news, reserving the right to comment on it more calmly later.
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Final ranking
In a subsequent post I will carry out some considerations on the tournament in terms of quality and results, but it is clear from the progressive scoreboard that the second part of the tournament was richer in decisive matches. Whether it was due to tiredness or psychological pressure, what matters is that this format kept (almost) everyone glued to their seats until the end and this is an excellent message for chess.
Congratulations again to Gukesh, who will have the chance to become the youngest World Champion in the history of our game.
Candidates Tournament
The last two rounds simply confirmed that Tan Zhongyi was the best player in Toronto and that she deserved the privilege of facing Ju Wenjun again for the world title. Lei Tingjie collapsed in the final, while Vaishali finished in an incredible crescendo that put her in second place. Disappointment for the two Russians, who appeared ill-prepared to fight and subject to even serious oversights.
Tan Zhongyi’s dominance was total and only the unexpected defeat suffered by Lei Tingjie made her slow down. He sometimes had luck on his side, but otherwise he demonstrated a practicality and solidity superior to all others. A new challenge with Ju Wenjun after the one in 2018, fully deserved.
The Indian girls finished on a high note, especially Vaishali who, after four defeats in a row halfway through the tournament, finished with five consecutive victories which made her come second in the tournament by technical play-off. Lai Tingjie fought until the end, but she never gave the impression of being superior to the others.
The two Russians were disappointed, as was Anna Muzychuk: there could be many reasons, but I am convinced that the pressure of the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has a bearing on their ability to prepare and concentrate.
Salimova finishes at the bottom, but can be satisfied with her tournament, which was more than dignified.
13th round – Lei Tingjie loses, green light for Tan Zhongyi
The most important match of the round was supposed to be between Tan Zhongyi and Aleksandra Goryachkina, but the ranking situation led to a quick draw.
This result gave Lei Tingjie the opportunity to join her compatriot in the lead, but in reality Vaishali always led the way in their match, obtaining (again thanks to a late error by her opponent) her fourth consecutive victory.
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The other matches were drawn, with Lagno and Anna Muzychuk unable to realize the advantage they had obtained: a constant in their disappointing tournament.
On the eve of the last round, therefore, Tan Zhongyi has a one-point advantage over Lei Tingjie and a draw against Anna Muzychuk is enough for her to win the tournament. Lei Tingjie is forced to win to go to the rapid play-off and must hope for a surge of pride from the Ukrainian team.
14th round – Tan Zhongyi closes easily, final rush by the Indians
The round soon resolved doubts about a possible play-off between the two Chinese players: Tan Zhongyi drew quite early against Anna Muzychuk (who finished winless), while Lei Tingjie never had a chance against Koneru Humpy and ended up losing . Her defeat meant that she was joined in second place by the two Indian girls; Vaishali in particular stands out, who also allowed herself the luxury of batting with Black Kateryna Lagno.
Aleksandra Goryachkina closed with another disappointing draw, having been the protagonist of a terrible second round.
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Final ranking
The progressive scoreboard clearly shows the excellent return round played by Vaishali and Koneru Humpy, compared instead to the terrible second part of the tournament played by Goryachkina and Lagno.
No player remained undefeated, while only Anna Muzychuk remained without a victory.
Let’s now prepare for a new Chinese match, with the re-edition of the 2018 match between Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi.
The posts on the 2023-2025 world cycle published so far on the blog can be read using the tag “2023-2025 World Cycle”.
Tags: Gukesh writes history Among girls Tan Zhongyi Chess Player wins
