Ding Lirensu and Nepomniacki kick off the second half of the National Elephant Candidate Competition – yqqlm

A total of eight world-leading chess players will compete in a double round-robin 14-round competition in Madrid, and the final winner will qualify for a match against the world chess champion. This is also the third time that Ding Liren has participated in the World Championship Candidates.

The eighth round took 7 hours and became the longest round since the start of the competition. However, the battle between Ding Liren and Nepomniacki lasted only an hour before it ended. Nepomniacki, who led the way in points, had no intention of winning, and after a series of sub-power exchanges, the two sides formed a repeating situation that did not become a draw.

Caruana and Nakamura Hikaru staged the “American Derby” this round, and Nakamura Hikaru seized on Caruana’s mistakes in the battle to win. While Caruana suffered his first defeat in this candidate match, the gap between him and Nepomniacki, who ranked second, also widened to 1 point.

The Hungarian chess player Laporte defeated the Polish chess player Duda with white, and got the first taste of victory in this competition. French chess player Ferroja and Azerbaijani chess player Rajapov fought 7 hours and 93 rounds without distinction.

After this round, Nepomniacki has 4 wins, 4 draws and 6 points, Caruana 5 points, Nakamura Hikaru 4.5 points, Laporte 4 points, Ding Liren with 1 loss and 7 draws with 3.5 points, Duda, Raja Pove and Ferroja share 3 points.

According to the schedule, the ninth round will start on the evening of the 27th, Beijing time. Ding Liren will play against Duda, Filoja will play against Laporte, Rajapov will play against Nakamura, and the top two in the standings will be Nepomnia. The match between Chi and Caruana may be the key battle that determines the direction of this candidate match.