Candidates Round 11 — King of draws, who?
Giri defeats Ding Liren
Another win for GM Anish Giri at the FIDE Candidates Tournament, a crucial win that brings him half a point behind Ian Nepomniachtchi. Anish didn’t only win though, but he gave us a game to remember for many years. Despite the complicated and a bit unpleasant position that Giri had at the middle game, he came up with a great idea that Ding Liren totally neglected, which made the game one to watch!
Playing safe
On the other hand, the – so far – leader of the tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi had a very calm and peaceful game with Fabiano Caruana, which led to an expected draw, taking into account the passiveness of the game.
Holding tight
We were all on our toes by watching Alekseenko’s game against Wang Hao, because it was far from promising for the young GM. But his technique and exceptional instinct, helped him survive and “steal” half a point.
Another Brilliant Sacrifice
We have seen some very impressive sacrifices during the FIDE Candidates Tournament, with Caruana’s bishop sacrifice at R9 being already in our hearts. But yesterday, Alexander Grischuk sacrificed a whole rook to gain counterplay on the h-file, and it absolutely worked for him. Maxime could have defended though, but he missed almost every opportunity to do so, and Grischuk was led to an important win.
WGM Dina Belenkaya and GM Ernesto Inarkiev, as every day at 5 pm GMT, hosted the Breakdown Live Studio, commented on the games, and had a very special guest, GM Boris Gelfand.
The broadcast was an absolute delight, with Boris commenting on the games and giving us very valuable insights as always! Watch the whole live below.
Standings after the 11th round
| # | Player | Position |
| 1 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 7 |
| 2 | Giri, Anish | 6½ |
| 3 | Caruana, Fabiano | 6 |
| 4-5 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 5½ |
| 4-5 | Grischuk, Alexander | 5½ |
| 6 | Wang, Hao | 5 |
| 7 | Alekseenko, Kirill | 4½ |
| 8 | Ding, Liren | 4 |
Pairings for the 12th round
Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri
Ding Liren – Alexander Grischuk
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Kirill Alekseenko
Wang Hao – Ian Nepomniachtchi
