Chess, Candidates 2024: Indian contingent starts campaign with three draws in Round 1

The Indian campaign at the 2024 Candidates started with three draws in as many matches in Toronto, early on Friday morning.

While Vidit Gujrathi and Gukesh Dommaraju played out a draw in an all-India clash in the open section, the women’s event saw veteran Koneru Humpy and the young Vaishali Rameshbabu play out a draw among themselves.

The other Indian in action in the competition, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, too shared points with France’s Alireza Firouzja.

It was a day dominated by draws and the only decisive result was in an all-China clash in the women’s section between Lie Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi, where the latter won with the black pieces.

Gukesh and Gujrathi played out the quickest game among the Indians as the latter found an amazing move, placing his black bishop to the g4 square in the 17th move. The move left many impressed, including the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in the commentary box.

“Bishop to g4 is amazing. We had not seen this,” Anand quipped.

Soon after the move, Gujrathi and Gukesh went into a three-fold repetition to settle for a 21-move draw.

“This was the problem that I saw bishop g4 in the first 5-10 minutes and other 25 minutes I spent was resisting to play it because I knew [with] bishop g4 I have at least a draw which happened in the game,” said Gujrathi in the post match press conference.

Gukesh, too, admitted to have been taken aback with the move.

“I completely missed this move,” said Gukesh. “When he played it I quickly realised that I can’t take the bishop and that it is just a draw.”

“It was a shock but I had one hour to recover from it. If I was in time trouble it would have been problematic but it was also quite easy to see that taking the bishop won’t work,” he added.

Gukesh will now take on fellow Indian Praggnanandhaa in the second round, while Vidit will face off against title contender Hikaru Nakamura.

Humpy, Vaishali draw

Later in the day, Humpy and Vaishali agreed to a draw after 41 moves. The latter, who was playing with the white pieces found herself in a bit of a scramble against time, but held her own against her more experienced opponent to come out with a draw.

“At some point I was worse,” said Vaishali after the match. “I was also getting really low on clock, I was really worried. But then the queens got traded and I felt fine.”

Humpy, on the other hand, felt she was never in trouble.

“I think this is a very normal way of play,” she said. “After the opening white tried to put slight pressure on the queen side. Once I got the required moves in to stop that, I was very confident that my position was fine.”

Playing against Vaishali – an opponent 15 years younger to her, Humpy asserted that she doesn’t like to think anything other than her position on the board.

“I just play my own game, I don’t bother with whom I am playing and what’s their age or strength. For me, the position on the board is more important,” said Humpy.

Humpy is now slated to face Kateryna Lagno in the second round, while Vaishali will have to go up against Tan, who registered the only win of the first round.

Praggnanandhaa draws with Alireza

Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Alireza Firouzja in 39 moves. The Indian was playing with the black pieces in the contest.

Making his candidates debut, the 17-year-old from Chennai found himself in a bit of time trouble but managed to emerge out unscathed.

Commentator Anand said he felt Pragg was better at some point in the game, but the chess engines maintained otherwise.