The current Candidates Tournament promised to be one of the most interesting in recent years.
It was distinguished from the previous ones by the fact that it was difficult to name a clear favorite.
Rather, among the eight participants, one could single out several strong chess players: the winner of the previous tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi, who scored an excellent move and ranked fourth in the world ranking, Fabiano Caruana, as well as the talented young Chinese Ding Liren.
However, everyone else could well have presented a surprise and deserved the title of "dark horses".
Additional intrigue of the tournament was also given by the repeated statements of the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen about his unwillingness to defend his crown once again.
In this case, according to the regulations, the victor of the competition and the grandmaster who finished immediately after him should have fought for her.
Fortunately, domestic fans, despite all the sanctions in world sports, did not lose the opportunity to cheer for the Russian.
Nepomniachtchi got a chance to start, albeit in a neutral status.
And it was very interesting to see if Jan managed to recover from the failure in the confrontation with Carlsen at the end of last year.
But another former contender for the title of the best chess player in the world, Sergei Karjakin, was not allowed to take part in the tournament by FIDE, which disqualified him for six months for political statements.
Until recently, there was a possibility that the athlete would challenge the verdict of the federation in CAS, but he did not do this.
As a result, his place was taken by Liren, who has the highest rating among those who did not make it to Spain.
Teymur Radjabov also received a wild-card.
The Azerbaijani qualified for the previous Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, but withdrew from it due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, FIDE decided to give him a place in the next without a fight.
And it was with the native of Baku that Nepomniachtchi had to play in the third round.
The confrontation with him turned out to be decisive for Jan in many ways, because he approached him as one of the leaders along with Caruana.
In the opening game, the Russian did not leave the slightest chance for Liren.
The Chinese, who played white, did not seem to have time to recover after a long flight to Madrid.
The representative of the Celestial Empire, having made a number of gross mistakes, surrendered on the 32nd move.
Further, the domestic athlete broke the world with one of the main rivals - Caruana.
The victory could have been a bid for success for the Russian, but he failed to find a gap in the American's defense.
The chess players played the Italian game with approximately equal chances.
Not surprisingly, Fabiano gladly agreed to a draw that suited him completely.
Unfortunately, Radjabov also failed to get the better of him, although the Russian, after a good start, was considered the favorite and had to strengthen his position in the standings.
They began the face-to-face meeting with active reconnaissance in force.
The exchange of queens took place quickly.
The Azeri thought carefully about each move, and sometimes the opponent had to wait for him for more than five minutes.
The result of careful thought was the advance of the knight and a successful attempt to secure the bishop and make it difficult for the opponent to attack with the queen.
After that, Nepomniachtchi began to take long pauses, who really did not want to make blunders following the example of Liren.
Soon the horses were exchanged.
And then Jan sacrificed his own bishop for the sake of the opponent's second knight.
At this moment, Radjabov performed the longest move in the game.
It took him 21 minutes to make it.
Nevertheless, it became more and more obvious that things were going to a draw, and opponents would not fight for victory at any cost, given the value of each point.
In the end, the Russian led his bishop on A3 on the right flank, but it was blocked by a pawn.
The Azerbaijani advanced a similar piece to C7, but also without much success.
The campaign against the second line of kings did not change the situation either.
Then Teimuraz sent the second bishop to D7.
However, the game ended on the 30th move.
The athletes agreed to a draw.
Despite the misfire of the Russian, Caruana could not break away from him in the standings.
The American failed to outplay one of the youngest participants in the championship, 23-year-old Jan-Krzysztof Dudu, with white.
In the next round, which will take place on June 21, the Russian will face off against young Fizruja, and Caruana will face off against Liren.
According to Sergey Smagin, vice-president of the Moscow Chess Federation, a draw can be called an absolutely acceptable result for Nepomniachtchi, and it made no sense for him to take risks in the third round.
“In the opening, Radjabov decided not to do anything active.
This is a well-known position that has been played many, many times.
The game immediately went into an endgame.
After yesterday's defeat, Radjabov decided to make a draw and leave behind an unsuccessful segment.
As for Jan, he had some bad moments in the previous match, but Caruana forgave him.
So he wasn't aggressive either.
From the point of view of the tournament situation for Jan, everything is going well.
He had no reason to take risks, ”Gazeta.ru quoted Smagin as saying.
And the honorary president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, considers Nepomniachtchi one of the main contenders for victory.
“He is definitely one of the favorites for the competition.
The Candidates Tournament is always the most difficult, strong opponents are gathered there.
I think Jan is very experienced, and he has already passed this path once, he has every chance to pass it in the second.
I would like Nepomniachtchi to meet with Carlsen, ”Sport-Express quotes the functionary.