3 Decisive Games In Round 9 of the Candidates 2022.
Round 9 of the 2022 Candidates Tournament ended with 3 decisive games and Nepomniachtchi resting assured at the top with a 1-point lead after his draw against Caruana.
Today’s ceremonial move was made by Gonzalo Sanchez, an 18-year-old chess fan who we got to know through the foundation “Little Wish”. Gonzalo visited the tournament today and made the first move for Ding Liren, fulfilling one of his dreams.
Round 9 was an eventful one! Firouzja, Radjabov and Ding Liren picked up their first wins against Rapport, Nakamura, and Duda respectively. These results shook the standings board with Liren reaching Nakamura with 4.5/9, Firouzja, and Radjabov climbing from the bottom two next to Rapport with 4/9, and Duda falling to the 8th place with 3/9.
Fabiano Caruana – Ian Nepomniachtchi
The most anticipated game was Caruana-Nepomniachtchi. No surprise, Nepo went for the super-solid Petroff, an opening where both players are huge specialists. Caruana introduced us to a novelty which – as it showed – it proved him right to gain an early advantage.
The Russian grandmaster, however, managed to equalize and the game ended in a predictable draw. After that result Nepo is rest assured at the top with a 1-point lead.
Join our broadcast with GM Daniil Yuffa and WIM Anna-Maja Kazarian, on Wednesday 29th of June at 13:00 UTC.
Round 10 Pairings:
Richard Rapport – Ding Liren
Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Fabiano Caruana
Ian Nepomniachtchi – Teimour Radjabov
Hikaru Nakamura – Alireza Firouzja
