Candidates Chess 2024 standings after Round 7: Gukesh joins Praggnanandhaa in 2nd spot after heartbreak

Candidates Chess 2024: Gukesh, the 17-year-old prodigy from Chennai, let slip the chance to stand alone on the top of the open category standings at the prestigious Candidates chess tournament after seven rounds.

Playing against French grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, Gukesh had the upper hand before a slip up under time pressure ended up with him losing the game, the only decisive result in the open section.

Coming into Round 7, Gukesh was sharing top spot in the open category standings with two-time World Chess Championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian was held to a draw by World no 3 Hikaru Nakamura, which meant that if Gukesh could manage to win, he would go into the tournament’s second rest day as the sole leader. The rest day also marks the halfway point of the double round robin tournament.

Gukesh’s defeat aside, there was very little to celebrate for the Indians in action at the event in Toronto.

Vidit Gujrathi was held to a draw by rank underdog Nijat Abasov, who had lost to the two Indian teenagers in the previous two rounds. Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa played out a smooth draw against the top ranked player at the tournament, Fabiano Caruana.

The two women from India also did not experience too much luck, with Humpy Koneru drawing against Anna Muzychuk while Vaishali Rameshbabu lost to Lei Tingjie.

Results from Round 7 at Candidates

Open section

Alireza Firouzja beat Gukesh D

Hikaru Nakamura drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi

Fabiano Caruana  drew with Praggnanandhaa R

Nijat Abasov drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Women’s category

Lei Tingjie beat Vaishali Rameshbabu

Kateryna Lagno drew with Nurgyul Salimova

Aleksandra Goryachkina drew with Tan Zhongyi

Anna Muzychuk drew with Humpy Koneru

Standings after Round 7 at Candidates

Open standings after Round 7

(Standings updated after Round 7 on Friday IST)

Women’s standings after Round 7

(Standings updated after Round 7 on Friday IST)

Schedule for Indians from Round 8 to Round 14 at Candidates

ROUND 8 Open

Praggnanandhaa R – Alireza Firouzja

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi – Gukesh D

ROUND 8 Women’s

Humpy Koneru – Vaishali Rameshbabu

ROUND 9 Open

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi – Hikaru Nakamura

Gukesh D – Praggnanandhaa R

ROUND 9 Women’s

Humpy Koneru – Kateryna Lagno

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Tan Zhongyi

ROUND 10 Open

Ian Nepomniachtchi – Gukesh D

Praggnanandhaa R – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

ROUND 10 Women’s

Nurgyul Salimova – Vaishali Rameshbabu

Tan Zhongyi – Humpy Koneru

ROUND 11 Open

Praggnanandhaa R – Hikaru Nakamura

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi – Ian Nepomniachtchi

Gukesh D – Fabiano Caruana

ROUND 11 Women’s

Humpy Koneru – Nurgyul Salimova

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Aleksandra Goryachkina

ROUND 12 Open

Nijat Abasov – Gukesh D

Fabiano Caruana – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Ian Nepomniachtchi – Praggnanandhaa R

ROUND 12 Women’s

Anna Muzychuk – Vaishali Rameshbabu

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru

ROUND 13 Open

Praggnanandhaa R – Fabiano Caruana

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi – Nijat Abasov

Gukesh D – Alireza Firouzja

ROUND 13 Women’s

Humpy Koneru – Anna Muzychuk

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Lei Tingjie

ROUND 14 Open

Hikaru Nakamura – Gukesh D

Alireza Firouzja – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Nijat Abasov – Praggnanandhaa R

ROUND 14 Women’s

Kateryna Lagno – Vaishali Rameshbabu

Lei Tingjie – Humpy Koneru

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