I believe that no other expression than „positive shock“ can be added to the result of the Candidates Tournament in Toronto 2024. For the first time in the long 75-year history of Candidates Tournaments for the World Championship, a 17-year-old youngster won it! And perhaps also for the first time, four players fought for victory in the last dramatic round. Many readers have surely already watched numerous videos, games and commentaries, so I have taken an unconventional approach to my contribution. I will focus on the critical moments of the second half of the tournament, but I will „decorate“ the article with questions, tests and of course videos, which may have somewhat been overlooked in all the glory.
Dommaraju Gukesh, properly Gukesh D, born 29 May 2006 in Chennai, by far the youngest winner of a Candidates Tournament in history and of course the challenger to the current World Champion.
The table before the final 14th round looked like this:
Thriller (or horror) of the last round
K a compulsory drama was of course led by the fact that in the last round the pairs Nakamura vs. Gukesh and, as if that was not enough, Caruana vs. Nepomniachtchi faced each other. I remind you that in the event of a tie – shared first place – a tiebreak would be played according to the regulations, both between two and three players. (So the situation from the 2013 Candidates Tournament would not be repeated, when Magnus Carlsen became the challenger to the then World Champion Anand. At that time, he shared first place with Vladimir Kramnik and advanced thanks to a greater number of wins! I will add that Vladimir Borisovich then had better usual first tiebreak score in case of equal points, i.e. Sonneborn-Berger.)
In the first closely watched game, the 17-year-old Indian genius did not allow the more than twice as old American with the black pieces to do anything, and I believe readers will be satisfied with a short video analysis by my favourite Dnipropetrovsk streamer Alexey Pugachev, who of course publishes his analyses mainly in Russian. (200,000 subscribers certainly speak for themselves!)
I was literally riveted to this game! Readers already know from at least the previous article that I do not consider Nakamura to be a fair person or chess player, and I confided to several good friends and acquaintances that if this streamer, a great blitz player but in my eyes not the one who should sit on the throne, becomes World Champion, I will end my coaching career 🙂. .
I treated my nerves from the night game by occasionally switching off the live broadcast and entertained myself for a while with the following puzzle, which was fortunately sent to me a few days earlier by my long-time pupil and international master. Dear readers, can you solve it too? White to move, of course… and… engines will not help here!
The solution to this brilliant study by an author unknown to me, at least I hope for now, can be found in the player at the end of the article.
My fears were later compensated by a comedy, performed by the American super-grandmaster at the press conference. (I just want to point out that at that moment, incredible things were happening at the neighbouring board, in the Caruana vs. Nepomniachtchi game, so Gukesh did not know whether he would become the winner or face a tiebreak!)
So I say to myself – and dear readers hopefully too: „Who is sitting to the right of the presenter and the future challenger to the World Champion coaching? Who is practically leading some kind of monologue? Is it perhaps the son of Caissa herself?“ Well, I have seen, for example, enough of Carlsen's post-game conferences, even at times when he could boast a rating around 2,880, and was or is World Champion in all chess disciplines. But still, it was always a dialogue with the opponent and not an analytical block of the type I have seen everything, I know everything, I am familiar with everything.
Well yes, such a tactical insight certainly makes an impression (I sometimes even urge my young pupils: if you are already bored with puzzles, it is time to quit chess), but for me this is not the ideal image of a world champion in classical chess…
The following video can be called „Farewell“…
In the meantime, as it later emerged, in the last game of the tournament Jan Aleksandrovič found himself in a hopeless situation immediately after the opening. Even before that, in the position of the diagram
he could have resigned, if the world number two had found not a complicated tactical strike 25.Bd7!
simply followed by 26.Re1. However, the game was winning permanently until the time control. (According to the computer, the decisive advantage ranged approximately between +3 and +6!). But nerves played the biggest role, the position became more complicated, the white king did not find peace, and on move 41, when White could calmly think for even 15 minutes to unravel the tangle, Fabiano made a fatal mistake.
That was the final decision that the Italian-American super grandmaster will not play for the world championship title this year. Well yes, the vast majority of us would have played (and blundered) exactly the same way. After all, the king's retreat to a1 is simply obvious: „41.Ka1 and when 41...Nb3+, that is 42.Ka2 and finally there is peace,“ (42...Qf7 43.Rxh2 and no knight deflections or double checks help) every qualified chess player would probably say. But everything is different! 41.Ka1?? Qc2!= with full compensation, because of the excellent coordination of Black's forces. We can now enjoy the whole game in a shorter video, but… we will return to the final endgame with a bit of humour…
"I am a complete idiot!" the otherwise always correct but also honest and likeable American reportedly declared at the press conference.
Let us dispel illusions about grandmasters' knowledge
First, allow me to present a short test to dear readers.
In the diagram position Caruana played 84.Qe8+, but let us assume that in an otherwise drawn queen endgame he chose 84.Qc4
with the intention to transition into a pawn ending. Would you accept your opponent's proposal in your own game and play 84...Qxc4?
I followed the last game of the Candidates Tournament on Levitov Chess, where it was commented on by grandmasters Alexandr Shimanov and Alexandr Grischuk. In the diagram position, the younger of the two asked the esteemed super-grandmaster, who apparently declared the pawn ending drawn in less than a second, quite innocently: „How can you know so quickly that it is a draw?" Alexandr Igorevich replied politely: „I saw it in a book..." 🙂
For me it is truly unbelievable that a young thirty-one-year-old, a fairly strong and tactically very sharp grandmaster with a personal best of 2664 (sic!) can ask such a naive question. Really does this confirm what I already think about most of these hedonistic or lazy young commentators? Namely, that they have never opened a book published before the year they were born? In Shimanov's case, the ignorance goes even further. I would bet that for example in the endgame encyclopedia we can find this position as well...
Moments and combinations that do not fit in
In the Vidit vs. Gukesh game Black finished the game with one of the most beautiful combinations of the tournament. How would you continue as Black and on which variations would you rely?
Grischuk's dry humour made me laugh. Commenting on the conclusion of this round 8 game, which he of course analysed fully, Alexandr Igorevich remarked (paraphrased): „White sacrificed a pawn to attack his own king.“ 🙂 White had to return the pawn later in Vidit's defensive intentions, but this did not stop the crushing attack!
The experienced Indian super-grandmaster, however, perfectly restored his mood immediately in the next round. Playing White, Nakamura again outplayed his opponent completely and finished the game with an impressive combination. Untangling the tangle of the final variations after the combinational strike is here, dear readers, your task. White to move quickly won.
Nakamura vs. Caruana. Fabian's worst performance surely not only in this Candidates Tournament cycle. White finished the game simple, yet attractive a forced manoeuvre with a sacrifice.
The accursed isolator… Jan bids farewell to the lead
I did not verify the facts, but I know not only that Jan won both previous Candidates tournaments with a score of +3 and before that even +5, but also that in both previous ones he apparently never lost the lead. Even in Toronto, he led the entire field most often alone, only to lose the yellow jersey only at the finish. The video shows that in the game against Nakamura, Jan Aleksandrovich was nervous as we, sadly, know him from the World Championship matches against Carlsen and later Ding Liren.
The game of round 13 clearly indicated to me that this time he will not be chosen by Caissa. Well, besides Jan himself, the main culprit of the quick draw is the otherwise traditional but this time unruly isolated pawn.
Rules and tricks – a small quiz
The end of the Nepomniachtchi-Nakamura game led me to the idea of giving you, dear readers, a small quiz concerning the rules of competitive chess. So let us take a short break from the direct encounter reports and get to it.
Nakamura, as we know, now responded with 22...c5 and followed 23.Nf3 Qh5 24.Ne5 Qg5 25.Nf3 Qh5 26.Ne5 Qg5.
Does the same position appear on the board for the third time according to the rules? Could we claim a draw in our game?
Readers who prefer the quiz directly from the rules in the viewer will find it below along with the solution.
Firouzja’s outbursts
Readers may remember how much Alireza Firouzja wished to participate in the Candidates tournament (whether this was more his father’s wish we will leave aside for now). Because for about a year and a half he either did not devote himself to chess (at most he was streaming on the internet) and was not doing well in tournaments, he needed to raise his rating. The French Chess Federation therefore organised a few somewhat dubious events and Firouzja eventually managed to sneak into the Candidates.
But what was Alireza's actual goal in going to Toronto? Was he really so naive as to believe in his lucky star? I have an explanation: these times are truly so crazy! Not just some, but many naive people believe that the path to success leads through… doing nothing. Firouzja, not only in my opinion, has not sat down for real training for two years. In fact, he is playing at the same level or even – as it eventually turned out – worse than in 2022 or even 2021. And so his performances in Toronto resemble a rollercoaster above all else.
Characteristic of his play in the tournament is the following game. Thanks to it, the American streamer 🙂 almost did not become the challenger.
Firouzja resigned the game, put on his smart tie again, adjusted his glasses with golden rims and walked away. Sometimes I would like to see inside this young man's head, which not only confuses him but also the organisers quite thoroughly, thanks to his father! Perhaps I would find written down: „Since I have been living in wonderful France, baked pigeons have been falling straight into my mouth.“ And what about „no pain, no gain“ (literally “without work, no cakes”)?
I do not want to be a bad prophet, but this young man with a huge gift for chess directly from the Creator will at least in the coming years not recover…
Final standings
An unlucky day for Alexandra Yurievna
It is certainly necessary to mention the Candidates tournament. It became significantly less dramatic in the second half. Former world champion Tan Zhongyi had no rival at the end. Not because she launched an extremely powerful finish, but her possible rivals somehow watched each other. However, the crushing finish of 22-year-old Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali is certainly worth mentioning. She apparently set a new record and her 5 wins in the last 5 rounds (from -4 to +1) resemble the second set of 50 sprints over 100 metres by the phenomenal Usain Bolt!
On the contrary, my favourite chess player Alexandra Goryachkina could not cope psychologically with the second half of the tournament. The turning point certainly came in the game of round 10, in which the Russian grandmaster finally needed to break away from +2 and defeat her rival with the white pieces. What came of it all? Well, not only experienced chess players know that the knight is an extremely treacherous and temperamental creature!
Black played 60...f5
How would you continue with White and which variations would you rely on? Did you calculate a draw or does Black win in all branches? Could the knight fulfil all of White's hopes and wishes?
The Candidates Tournament was very nicely commented on Levitov Chess by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Here is a taste of the post-game analyses of rounds 8 to 10.
Heavenly music from another world
This is roughly how the interview with the new challenger for the world champion, which took place before his departure to his homeland, struck me.
Further words, I think, are unnecessary!
Final videos and photographs
Award ceremony and closing ceremony:
Generational clashes will certainly continue for some time, and we can look forward to the autumn match for the world championship title between the Chinese terminator Ding Liren and the youngest challenger in the history of chess!
Below the reader will find the solution relaxing 🙂 studies and all examples again in the CB player.
I always like to read such a summary of an exciting tournament finish.
You are probably too harsh on Nakamura. Yes, that analysis was a monologue on his part, but on the other hand Gukesh answered the first question rather nonchalantly. Clearly, he was more interested in how Fabiano plays. And then the mouse was with Nakamura, so he took the analysis into his own hands. He is a streamer, so he is used to putting on a show and drawing attention to himself. But he knows chess and works hard; many times he has come up with some surprise in the opening. See the games with Nepomniachtchi with White or Praggnanandhaa with Black.