Praggnanandhaa R - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Pragg keeps whipping out novelties, and seems like the best-prepared and most-exciting player in the field.
Their game began with, finally, Nepo’s Petrov! Pragg went for the Steinitz Attack (also my preferred move) and we shortly got a typical structure where White has a slight lead in development and is perhaps a smidge better, with an imbalanced but slightly favorable c+d-pawn island. Both players were in their prep 15 moves, and I think Pragg sprung a novelty with 16.Bh3:
After 16…Qxc3 17.Rb1 b6 18.Rb3 Qa5 19.d5! Pragg offered another pawn, and Ian took 40 minutes — repeat: Ian took 40 minutes on his next move. Pragg clearly caught him by surprise, and by move 23, Ian had gifted Pragg a winning position with 23…Nc5??:
Things started looking rather poor for Black after 24.Rxd6 Kg8 25.Qd5+ Kh8, but…
Pragg went slightly off-course with 26.Bf5? (26.Qe5! is strong due to the threat of Rxh6+!) and after Nb7! Ian forced a trade of queens, and the game headed into an equal endgame, ending on move 44. This was by far the most dangerous position Nepo had found himself in during the tournament at this point. Pragg almost had a win, which would have been fantastic to see.
Alireza Firouzja - Hikaru Nakamura
Alireza went for a Giuoco Pianissimo with an early b4, but by the time the White completed development, the position looked rather unique:
It seemed like from here the trend of the was beginning to tilt in Hikaru’s favor, who began to weave his pieces all around on the queenside in an attempt to provoke Alireza into an unforced error. White gained a lot of space on the kingside and as pieces came off things were looking like a draw, but maybe White has some chances to play for something in this position, just as both sides managed to reach the time control and gain 30 minutes on their clock.
Firouzja opted for the queen trade with 41.e6, and things continued to head towards a draw, but both players were starting to get low on time by the 60th move:
Black’s d-pawn should be stoppable, because Black cannot support its promotion. Nakamura went for 60…Nxh3+ 61.Ke4 g4.
Firouzja panicked and played 62.Kxd3?? Chess is a cruel game, and after 62…g3 63.Rf8+ Ke6, Alireza resigned. 0-1
An important bounce-back victory for Naka!
Gukesh D - Nijat Abasov
We got another Petrov, this time from Abasov. Like his compatriot, Gukesh went with 3.d4 the Steinitz Attack, but no crazy novelties or double pawn sacrifices (itself an interesting fact!)
Abasov was in trouble for the major-piece heavy middlegame, but Gukesh was getting very low on time, and made an inaccuracy as he met the time control — a common theme.
This is almost an endgame already by move 40, and it’s a probable draw. After 41.Re3 Nxc5 42.Qc4 Ne6?, Gukesh was now in a position to win. A bit later, seeking counterplay, Abasov blundered with 45.Rg5??
Gukesh missed 46.Qxc6!, perhaps over-estimating Black’s attack. After 46…Rxg2 47.Kf1, White can continue the attack with Re8+ followed by Rb8 with the threat of a pin of the queen via Rb7. Instead, players traded off rook and knights, and it was back to a drawish endgame, but White had the chances to win due to the extra passed pawn and a queenside majority:
Both players began pushing pawns but it seemed like Abasov was perhaps taking too many risks and trying to play for a win, and played 58…g5?
Gukesh responded with 59.e4! and was able to collect the g-pawn a bit later. Both players were surviving on the increment and keeping the game level, but the hectic nature of the endgame and pressure of the tournament led to some mutual blunders by both sides. However, in the end Abasov made the last mistake and Gukesh finally was able to capitalize, ending the game on the 87th move with Qg5+ 1-0.
Abasov resigned due to the impending queen trade and free march of the pawn to promotion. Gukesh finished the day in joint first place with Nepo!
Vidit Gujrathi - Fabiano Caruana
Fabi went for a Sicilian, and played 3…Nf6 against the Rossolimo. Things looked really shaky for him after 22…e5:
They got worse after 23.Qg3 Qa7? After 24.Qxe5 Rxa2 25.Qxg7 Rf8, Vidit trusted Fabi’s attack and went for a repetition with 26.Qe5:
But he could have played 26.Kc2 and played for the win. That line looked rather complicated and scary because of Black’s pawn on the b-file, so the repetition looked like a practical choice. Fabi was lucky to get away!