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In the 11th round of the Candidates Chess 2024, the Indian grandmaster, Dommaraju Gukesh, got a draw against the American Fabiano Caruana. But, the 17-year-old slumped to second place in the points table when his nearest rival the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated his compatriot Vidit Gujrathi to get to seven points, half a point ahead of the others.
Dommaraju Gukesh, who was predicted to be the most likely winner of the Candidates Chess 2024 before the 11th round started, employed the Queen’s Gambit to gain an advantageous position. After the mass trades, Gukesh won a pawn, but Caruana had a perpetual check to secure a draw.
In the Petroff Defense, following the early queen trade, the Indian grandmaster, Vidit Gujrathi had a couple of chances to get the win against Ian Nepomniachtchi. But in the endgame, the Russian managed to find a breakthrough of his own after moves 59 and 60, before he got the victory.
The women’s competition of the Candidates Chess 2024 saw the Indian players Vaishali Rameshbabu and Koneru Humpy register wins over the Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina and the Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova respectively, although they are in the middle of the points table. The top two are the Chinese players Tan Zhongyi (7.5) and Lei Tingjie (7), who are separated by just half a point at the top.