In the footsteps of Karjakin: Nepomniachtchi won the Candidates Tournament ahead of schedule and will fight for the chess crown

Strategic draws with Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave and victory over Wang Hao

Four rounds before the finish of the tournament of candidates for the chess crown, Ian Nepomniachtchi made a serious claim for the final victory.

He was one point ahead of his closest pursuers Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and, moreover, had a fairly comfortable schedule of the remaining matches.

Although the Russian still had to face his main rivals, in both games he had to play white.

Plus, he was expected to play with Wang Hao and Ding Liren as black.

In the 11th round, the native of Bryansk achieved a strategically important draw with the American.

During the match, he acted very carefully and tried to dry up the game as much as possible.

As a result, Yang achieved a peaceful outcome that suited him completely.

In turn, another Russian Alexander Grischuk made a great gift to his compatriot.

With White, he unexpectedly easily defeated Vachier-Lagrave.

The domestic grandmaster looked good in the opening, and then took advantage of the fateful blot of his opponent.

The Frenchman tried to achieve at least a draw, but was forced to capitulate and allowed Anish Giri to overtake himself, who turned out to be stronger than Liren.

The representative of the Netherlands generally scored an excellent move in Yekaterinburg and in the first six matches of the second round knocked out 4 points out of 6 possible.

In the 12th round, Giri defeated Caruana with black in a key confrontation, knocking out the American from the number of contenders, and moved up to the second line.

In turn, Nepomniachtchi achieved victory over Hao.

In the opening, he risked replacing the French Defense with the Russian game, and this move brought him success.

By the penultimate day of the game, only three chess players retained the chances of a final victory: Nepomniachtchi, Giri, 0.5 points behind the first line, and Vachier-Lagrave, 1.5 points behind the Russian.

However, one round before the finish line, the white leader was just about to meet the Frenchman, and he only needed a victory.

By the way, in the first round, Vachier-Lagrave turned out to be stronger than his opponent.

Meanwhile, Grischuk, who had lost his chances for the first line, opposed Giri with white and had an excellent opportunity to help his compatriot.

The defeat officially excluded the grandmaster from the Netherlands from the list of contenders, because in personal meetings he was inferior to Jan (0.5: 1.5) and would have been lower in case of equal points.

As a result, Nepomniachtchi once again demonstrated the most accurate game.

The leader had no need to take risks, and he did not strive by all means to win and take revenge on the opponent for the defeat last year.

Therefore, the final draw suited him completely.

Then the fans could only follow the game between Grischuk and Giri, in which Alexander intended to loudly slam the door.

And the domestic grandmaster succeeded in this.

He had an advantage with White and, in the end, tipped the scales to his side in the endgame.

“The task was to qualify for the Candidates Tournament, then qualify for the match with Carlsen, now - to win it”

Thus, Nepomniachtchi, one round before the finish, was out of reach for his pursuers and guaranteed himself participation in the match for the world title with the current crown holder Magnus Carlsen, which will be held from November 24 to December 16, 2021 in Dubai.

“I cannot single out any particular game as decisive, it was very important to win the matches with both Kirill Alekseenko and Wang Hao.

I commented on the two previous Candidates Tournaments and realized that you should never lose your head, and it is advisable not to lose games.

You can make some boring draws, but you can't concede, ”Nepomniachtchi TASS quotes.

According to the chess player, during the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, he felt such a serious stress that after the first three meetings he could not sleep.

“So I went for a quick draw with Giri.

Before the game with Alekseenko, I was finally able to get enough sleep, but this does not mean that the tension has subsided.

It was very difficult to relax, ”the athlete added.

At the same time, the domestic grandmaster is not going to stop there.

Now he sets himself the task of winning the most important confrontation.

“We need to bring this tournament to the end and take a breath, but it is clear that the match with Carlsen does not promise to be easy.

The most important meeting in your career?

While this tournament was the most important, it means now the next one.

This is one big cycle, the task was to qualify for the Candidates Tournament, then qualify for the match with Carlsen, and now - to win it, ”the Championship quotes the winner.

The last Russian to take part in the match for the chess crown was Sergei Karjakin.

In 2016, he challenged Carlsen, but was eventually defeated - 7: 9.

After Nepomniachtchi secured first place in Yekaterinburg, a colleague congratulated him.

“Congratulations to Nepomniachtchi on winning the Candidates Tournament!

Very impressive performance and results.

Now your turn!"

- wrote Karjakin on Twitter.

But the President of the International Chess Federation Arkady Dvorkovich bluntly stated that Yan, despite his success in the Candidates Tournament, is not yet ready to compete with the current holder of the world crown on an equal footing.

“To play a match at the World Chess Championship ... is the dream of every grandmaster who has dedicated his life to chess.

Jan is among them.

This is the highest achievement.

The victory in it will, of course, be an even higher achievement, but this is already the next step.

A huge step forward has now been taken.

Many others wanted this, but he turned out to be stronger, "Sport Express quotes Dvorkovich.

However, according to the head of FIDE, in the six months remaining before the meeting for the world title, the Russian can prepare to adequately confront Carlsen, who has not given anyone the title of the best chess player on the planet since 2013.

“Everyone thinks that the Norwegian has a priori more chances. He has vast experience in match fighting, several times Magnus has already defended his crown. But from a chess point of view, both psychologically and physically, Jan can prepare for the match and fight, ”added Dvorkovich.