Chess, Candidates 2024: Vidit Gujrathi beats Hikaru Nakamura; Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa play out draw

Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi registered his second victory over world No 3 Hikaru Nakamura at the 2024 Candidates early on Sunday.

Playing with the white pieces, Gujrathi managed to force out a resignation from the American Grandmaster on the 36th move in the only decisive game of the day in the open section.

Gujrathi landed in a slightly better position right out of the opening as Nakamura akwardly placed his knight at the h5 square on the 11th move.

“Nf5 I did not like so much, maybe you can do something different,” said Gujrathi to his opponent in their post-match press conference.

Though the engine evaluation showed the position to be equal at this point, Nakamura also admitted it to be a slight mistake on his part.

“Basically I spent 30 minutes looking at different moves and I think I picked the worst one,” reflected Nakamura. “I do not think its necessarily bad, but to spend 30 minutes when I am half an hour up on clock here is insane with no increment.

“The moves become much more easier for white at this point, that’s the problem,” he added.

While the knight h5 move just increased the pressure on Nakamura, the biggest mistake for the 36-year-old American came in the 27th move, when he completely...

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