Candidates Chess: D Gukesh needs the rest day to refocus after loss to Alireza Firouzja to surrender joint lead

Before they left for Toronto to compete at the biggest tournament of the year, Viswanathan Anand hosted four of India’s five Candidates contenders at his home over dinner. There, five-time world champion Anand reached into his memories of playing at big-ticket events like the Candidates to offer insights. “There is no greater joy on earth than winning before a rest day,” he declared at one point.

It’s a feeling that none of the five Indians at the Candidates are experiencing as the tournament reaches its second rest day. R Praggnanandhaa is probably the most satisfied out of the Indian quintet, after playing out a calm draw with Fabiano Caruana, the top-ranked player in the eight-man field and a fifth-time participant at the high-stakes event. Vidit Gujrathi might have mixed feelings, having stemmed the sequence of defeats with a win and a draw heading into the rest day, even if the latter came against rank outsider Nijat Abasov. On the women’s side, while R Vaishali lost to Lei Tingjie and Koneru Humpy agreed to a draw with Anna Muzychuk, both the Indians are at the bottom of the standings at the halfway mark. But it’s the youngest among the five, Gukesh, who will be the most restless after blundering away his advantage against Alireza Firouzja due to time pressure. Gukesh’s defeat after holding an advantageous position for most of the evening prevented him from sitting on top of the open standings after the first half of the tournament.

Incidentally, at the dinner he hosted for the Indian Candidates, Anand had lobbed a hypothetical question at the quartet: ‘what do you hate most? Losing (on any other day) or losing right before a rest day at a competition?’

Most of those sitting on the dinner table agreed that losing before the rest day was a particularly infuriating experience.

“But at least when you have a rest day, ‘okay, I can break things and then I can come back,’” chimed 17-year-old Gukesh in the video of the dinner posted on YouTube by chess.com. “I was always — I mean, I’m not happy to lose — but (I’m okay with losing before rest day).”

Gukesh later elaborated: “At Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters), I lost two games in a row. But I was so happy I had a rest day afterwards. Then I won three games in a row.”

Everyone disagreed with Gukesh. “Losing right before the rest day is the best way to spoil that rest day,” Anand said.

Chance to reset

Whatever good-form genie Gukesh had summoned at the Tata Steel Masters, he needs it now more than ever. Despite the latest defeat, he is still within half a point of the top of the standings, sharing the spot with Pragg and Caruana.

At long events like the Candidates, rest days provide an opportunity to hunker down with the group of seconds and trainers, take stock, and recalibrate. Barring Humpy, none of the five Indians have played at the high-pressure Candidates event before.

For Humpy, Pragg, Gukesh and Vaishali, it’s the first time ever in Canada. But a rest day for most chess players is a chance to work harder and rest longer. Spend more time in the hotel room.

Candidates Chess 2024: Praggnandhaa defeated Vidit Gujrathi in round 3 at the Candidates. (PHOTO: FIDE/ Michal Walusza)

On the first rest day of the Candidates, FIDE had organised a cruise for players to watch the solar eclipse from Lake Ontario. While the organisers had invited all the 16 players, barring Nijat Abasov and Anna Muzychuk, no one accepted.

Abasov lost the next two games after that cruise to Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.

“The eclipse was interesting to watch. Perhaps it was not the best idea because after that I lost two games,” Abasov said wryly after his defeat against Praggnanandhaa while he sat on stage for his press conference with the Indian teenager.

Praggnanandhaa was then asked how he had spent his rest day. “I was just in my room. I go for walks. But a walk for me means just one kilometre around the hotel. Besides that, not much,” said the 18-year-old.

After his draw with Caruana, he was asked again what he planned to do on the rest day. “I’ll be resting,” he said, with a look of mild surprise at the thought that anyone could imagine that he would spend his additional day doing anything else.

• LSG vs DC Live Score, IPL 2024
• Paris Olympics: Boxing great Mary Kom resigns as India’s Chef de Mission citing personal reasons
• 'Rohit is out .. Mumbai will lose': The comment that killed a Kolhapur IPL fan

“In Pragg’s case, generally when we get a rest day, he will rest, and then prepare. He’ll rest more on these days (as compared to days with games), but the training is about the same time,” Pragg’s long-time coach RB Ramesh told The Indian Express. “Players prepare a lot for every game at an event like the Candidates. They spend a lot of energy on that. And then when you’re playing, you’re again losing a lot of energy. The rest days in the middle will give you a chance to sleep more, get that energy back into the system. Of course. there are players who go out on rest days and explore the city.”

The Indians are certainly not in Toronto on a sight-seeing mission.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.