Although chess is – along with music and mathematics – the activity that produces the most child prodigies, no one had managed to become the challenger to the world champion at the age of 17. The Indian Dommaraju Gukesh won the Candidates Tournament in Toronto this Sunday, combining genius and astonishing coolness, after a thrilling last round because the American Fabiano Caruana was very close to tying for first place. Gukesh will face the current champion, China’s Liren Ding, in the title match at the end of November. China’s Zhongyi Tan, 32, won the Candidates Tournament and will be the challenger to her compatriot Wenjun Ju.
Fans packed the entrance to the Great Hall an hour and a half before kickoff. In the public amphitheater the Indian and Chinese communities were represented (by the Candidates Tournament); There was also the American billionaire and chess patron Rex Sinquefield. When Gukesh arrived at his table, dressed in a suit, he hung his coat on the chair, placed his thermos and extended his right hand to Nakamura. Nakamura, who had been sitting for minutes before, shook it without getting up.
The situation was an attractive dilemma (with the possibility of a trilemma): a 17-year-old genius, especially astonishing for his sang-froid, possible new national idol of a country of 1.4 billion inhabitants; opposite, with the white pieces, another brilliant American chess player, who dedicates much more time and energy to his work as a streamer (live commentator on the networks) than to high competition. But if their game ended in a draw, there would be an opportunity for two very illustrious veterans, who faced each other in the other great duel on Sunday: the American Fabiano Caruana, runner-up in the world in 2018 and 2nd on the current list, against the Russian Ian Niepómniashi, winner of the two previous Candidates Tournaments.
The first danger that Gukesh had to overcome was a poisonous preparation from Nakamura’s laboratory. And he did it with great intelligence: not only did he not use his most usual defenses, but his fifth attempt is also very unusual and forced the American to spend several minutes mentally organizing the situation. The result was that Gukesh emerged from the opening in a comfortable and relatively easy position to play. Meanwhile, Caruana gained a clear advantage and punished Niepómniashi for his almost pathological aversion to risk that he has shown in this tournament and in recent years; It is true that this conservative tactic has made him double runner-up in the world, but it is worth asking if he would have achieved more with greater courage.
In any case, Nakamura is a very dangerous opponent when he plays everything and even though he has one less pawn (and 20 minutes less on the clock), and even more so with many pieces still in a very open position. But, instead of going kamikaze, the American made an intelligent decision, perhaps based on his extensive experience with his third profession, a poker player: he proposed the exchange of queens, which was equivalent to an offer of probable draws. It was a profound psychological decision: if Gukesh accepted them, Nakamura would not objectively be giving up anything because his position at that moment was almost unwinnable; But if the Asian rejected the offer he would have to take a risk to win, and there would be the great opportunity for the Japanese-born American.
Gukesh broke his absolute concentration on the board to turn and look at the other game that was influencing first place: a big advantage for Caruana. After eleven minutes of reflection, Gukesh decided to play two results and not three, and changed the queens, despite the fact that the alternative continuations gave him an advantageous, although much more complex, position.
Carfuana, during her game with Niepómniashi in the last roundMaría Emeliánova
Caruana had everything in his hand to reach Monday’s quick tiebreaker. Furthermore, he managed the position with great skill, despite the fact that Niepómniashi did not throw in the towel at any time and fought – for once – to keep the position alive even though it was lost to him, and passed control of the 40th move with a decisive advantage.
But then something incredible happened. Caruana was in check: of the two moves of his king, one consolidated the decisive advantage; the other gave the Russian many chances of a draw. Even though he now had a lot of time to think after overcoming the difficulties until the 40th, Caruana rushed and acted badly.
However, fate gave him another chance because Niepómniashi was finally playing to win, just when he was objectively lost. So Caruana again achieved a winning position in second place but, prey to nerves and the clock, she did not take advantage of it either: “I played like an idiot,” she later punished herself in the press room.
Gukesh attended the meeting with the press shortly after: “I think that my attitude and my spirit throughout the tournament have been the keys to my victory. I have played very hard almost every game and, above all, I have managed to maintain that attitude and ambition from start to finish.” To achieve that mental balance, he practices yoga and meditation, as well as physical exercise (when he is at home he plays tennis, and he walks during tournaments).
Those words fit well with what five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand told EL PAÍS from his home in Chennai a few hours before the last round: “My first impression of Gukesh was that he was an aggressive player, a lover of tactical battles. But that impression must be qualified. What he does is put pressure on his rival, and if to do so he requires tactical play, he resorts to it. In this sense, his style is somewhat similar to mine, although my influence on him is shared by many other players of the current era, from whom he has learned a lot.
And what is most special about Gukesh? Anand highlighted this: “His success in Toronto is amazing. I didn’t rule it out, because I saw him as having great potential, but I didn’t expect it so soon either. He has shown that he is more mature and stronger than I thought, so I will have to update my opinion.”
Anand has made chess very popular in India. It can be considered very likely that the duel between Ding and Gukesh will be in that country of more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, where Gukesh has all the attributes to be the next national idol.
Results (14th round).-
Candidates: Nakamura – Gukesh, boards; Caravan – Niepómniashi, boards; Abásov – Practice, 0-1; Firouzja – Vidit, boards.
Candidates: A. Muzychuk – Tan, boards; Earth – Koneru, 0-1; Salimova – Lagoon, boards; Lagno – Vaishali, 0-1; Goriáchkina – Salimova, boards.
Classifications.-
Candidates: 1º Gukesh 9; 2º-4º Caruana, Nakamura y Niepómniashi 8.5; 5º Praggnanandhaa 7; See 6; 7º Turquoise 5; 8º Abásov, 3.5.
Candidates: 1st Tan 9 points; 2a-4a Lei, Vaishali and Koneru 7.5; 5th Goriachkina 7; 6th Lagoon 6.5; 7th Salimova 6; 8th A. Muzychuk 5.5.
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2024-04-22 01:06:54
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