Gukesh beats Nepo in the six-hour marathon and takes the lead at Candidates

After five rounds of play, D Gukesh, a 17-year-old from India and two-time World Championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi are now tied for the lead. Gukesh is the youngest player competing at the Candidates. The longest game at the Candidates thus far lasted six hours and 87 moves between Gukesh and Nijat Abasov, the lowest seed in the Open section of Azerbaijan. The Indian was able to lead a drew situation to victory.

Black didn’t appear to be in any serious danger right after the opener. Gukesh was forced to make four decisions in less than a minute and found himself in a crazy time crunch.

 

He made a mistake on his 40th move just before they entered time control, which allowed him to quickly get the upper hand. The assessment bar that favoured White quickly fell, and it seemed as though the game was evenly drawn. Gukesh started a new offensive to win after Abasov made the mistake of giving up his D6 pawn. In a queen endgame, the Indian was up a pawn and exerted pressure for a clear winner until Abasov gave in. After making a mistake with 83…Qf1+, which resulted in a queen exchange, the Azerbaijani lost in the next four moves.

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