Javokhir Sindarov’s dominant performance highlights the Chess Candidates Tournament as he extends his lead, while Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa draws against Hikaru Nakamura in a strategic match.
Photograph: Michal Walusza/FIDE
Key Points
- Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan secures his fifth victory in six games at the Candidates chess tournament, establishing a significant lead.
- Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa draws against Hikaru Nakamura in a Nimzo Indian defence.
- Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine defeats Jiner Zhu, taking a one-point lead in the women’s section.
- Indian players Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali both secure victories in the women’s section, moving into joint second place.
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a quick and easy draw with Hikaru Nakamura of United States while Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan continued with his winning ways as he beat Wei Yi of China in the sixth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Saturday.
With each passing round, Sindarov seemed to be moving far away from the huddle and this is by far the greatest performance ever in the history of the Candidates tournaments. With his fifth victory in six games, Sindarov moved to 5.5 points awaiting other results.
Praggnanandhaa, on 3 points, is now 2.5 points behind Sindarov and it remains to be seen if the last eight games can change the fortunes of the other players in the event. For now, it seems Sindarov is well past the reach of anyone.
Praggnanandhaa’s Draw Against Nakamura
Praggnanandhaa played the Nimzo Indian defense as black against Nakamura who was clearly upset after his previous round loss. The American, who is now more famous as a streamer and is also called the richest chess player, did not go for any complications as a couple of minor pieces changed hands in the opening.
Praggnanandhaa decided to repeat the position quite early in the middle game.
Sindarov’s Victory Over Wei Yi
Sindarov was pleasantly surprised by Bishops opening by Wei Yi and did not have any trouble in equalizing early with his black pieces. The Uzbek sacrificed a pawn in the middle game that was poisoned and then launched a series of threats forcing Wei Yi to complications. The game lasted just 36 moves.
Women’s Tournament Highlights
Anna Muzychuk, who had no clue if she was playing the tournament even one week before it started, came up with another sterling effort to beat Jiner Zhu of China. The Ukrainian moved to four points out of a possible six and now enjoys a full point lead over Zhu and Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina who drew with Zhongyi Tan of China.
The two Indians in the fray in the women’s section had excellent results with Divya Deshmukh scoring her first victory at the expanse of Bibisara Aasaubayeva of Kazakhstan while R Vaishali cruised to a win over Kateryna Lagno of Russia. Both Divya and Vaishali also jumped to joint second spot on three points.
Round 6 Results
Results round 6: Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 1) Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 2.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 2); Anish Giri (Ned, 2.5) playing Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 2.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 2) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 5.5).
Women: Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 2.5) lost to Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 3); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 3) lost to R Vaishali (Ind, 3); Bibisara Assuabayeva (Kaz, 2.5); Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 2.5) drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 3); Jiner Zhu (Chn, 3) lost to Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 4).
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