Candidates Tournament 2020

[Matthew Turner]

Not sure I have got a single result right so far, so i’ll Go super sensible today. 3 draws and a win for Ding Liren

[Jonathan Rogers]

Three White wins and a draw in Giri's game. I don't think that Giri's first win in 20 attempts heralds a sudden tsunami of wins and Grischuk is this time the one person with all draws so far.

[Mick Norris]

Three White wins and a draw in Giri's game. I don't think that Giri's first win in 20 attempts heralds a sudden tsunami of wins and Grischuk is this time the one person with all draws so far.

Can Grischuk keep up the draw streak though?

There were 4 draws after the last rest day, so will be interesting to see what openings we get; assume Nepo & Alekseenko have a good idea what their opponents will play

[Tim Harding]

David Howell on the chess24 commentary team today.

[JustinHorton]

Early openings report: we have

- a Petroff (Nimzowitsch variation, I think)

- a Catalan

- a Classical English

- a Winawer (Nepo again)

[JustinHorton]

- a Winawer (Nepo again)

So you put your king on f8, your queen on a5 and then lock the centre with ... c4. I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

EDIT: him neither

[PeterFarr]

- a Winawer (Nepo again)

So you put your king on f8, your queen on a5 and then lock the centre with ... c4. I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

EDIT: him neither

Well, he's also played ...Rg8, then ...Rh8 and ...Ke8. All part of the master plan. Hope he doesn't try to castle now.

[JustinHorton]

Mind you we've all got much more used to that set-up since 2000.

[Mick Norris]

Grischuk goes to 7 draws

[Jonathan Rogers]

Update on the openings and results, after the first half:

14 x 1 e4 games (7 x Ruys, 3 x Petroff , 1 x Italian, 2 x French, 1 x Sicilian) white on plus three. Notably joint leaders Nepo and MVL have each been involved in five of these 1 e4 games: non-1 e4 player and negative surprise so far Ding involved in just two, losing both, and his joint basement dweller Alekseenko is the only 1 e4 player to lose with White, and then in slightly inexplicable fashion.

9 v 1 d4 openings, including Catalan structures (1 x 4.f3 v Nimzo, 3 x Grunfeld, 2 x Slavs, 3 x Catalans: white on unbeaten plus two but could have been more.

5 x English openings, apparently abandoned after round two with Black on +2, resurrected to no effect in Giri v Grischuk in round seven.

[Mick Norris]

Summary at the halfway point

4.5 - MVL & Nepo (with MVL having an advantage on the head to head tiebreak)
3.5 - Caruana, Giri, Grishchuk, Wang
2.5 - Ding, Alekseenko (both presumably with far too much to do, and not in great form)

Round 8 tomorrow:
Caruana v MVL
Nepo v Giri
Wang v Ding
Alekseenko v Grischuk

[Matthew Turner]

So it is possible we might have six leaders tied on 4.5 after tomorrow, that would be interesting.

[Mick Norris]

So it is possible we might have six leaders tied on 4.5 after tomorrow, that would be interesting.

Yes, I'd noticed that, but it would be unlikely to say the least

Alekseenko v Grischuk might have both in time trouble I guess

Just in case of a 6 way tie, might be worth adding the tiebreak procedure for later reference

4. 8. 2. Tie-breaks
If two (2) or more players score the same number of points, the tie is decided by the following criteria, in order of priority:
a) The results of the games between the players involved in the tie.
b) Each tied player’s total number of wins in the tournament.
c) Sonneborn-Berger System.
4. 8. 3. If there is a clear winner after applying the procedure described in 4.8.2, all other ties not broken by 4.8.2 are decided by
drawing of lots.
4. 8. 4. If there are two (2) players in tie for the first place after applying the procedure described in 4.8.2., a tie-break play-off is held
between these players to determine the winner and the runner-up (see Annex 2). All other ties not broken by 4.8.2 are decided by
drawing of lots.
4. 8. 5. If there are more than two (2) players in tie for the first place after applying the procedure described in 4.8.2., the drawing of
lots decides two (2) players who participate in a tie-break play-off to determine the winner and the runner-up (see Annex 2). All other
ties not broken by 4.8.2 are decided by drawing of lots.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I feel a bit less sympathetic to Emil Sutovsky than Matt. Maybe because of my own conflicted feelings. Although I am really enjoying the chess, I do not feel the players should not have been put in this position.

Oh, totally understood. But it was a difficult decision either way, and now it has started I hope it completes successfully.

[JustinHorton]

Our man's oddsometer again