Candidates Chess | Gukesh stays in joint lead on a day when fellow Indian men post victories

D. Gukesh maintains joint lead in Candidates tournament, while Vidit Gujrathi shines; Indian women face setbacks.

D. Gukesh maintained his joint lead after drawing with second Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the sixth round of the Candidates tournament at Toronto.

He shared the top spot with defending champion Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, who drew with top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States. The leaders were on 3.5 points.

They were followed half-a-point behind by Caruana and R. Praggnanandhaa, who defeated Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan.

It was a good day for the other Indian, Vidit Gujrathi, who beat Alireza Firouzja of France.

It was the second straight win for Gujrathi, as he showed character by bouncing back from two consecutive losses.

It was a disappointing day for India in the women’s tournament, though. Koneru Humpy went down to China’s Lei Tingjie, while R. Vaishali lost to Russian Kateryna Lagno. All the four boards produced decisive results, as Tan Zhongyi defeated Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and Aleksandra Goryachkine of Russia beat Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova.

Tan remained in the sole position with 4.5 points, half-point more than the second-placed Goryachkina. Humpy was on two points and Vaishali on 2.5.