Gukesh D, who took the lead in the Chennai Grand Masters in 2023 and is now one step closer to candidates. Gukesh D of India made significant progress toward earning a berth in the Candidates competition the next year when he emerged victorious from the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 tournament in back-to-back rounds, holding the lead by himself after five rounds.
Gukesh used black pieces to upset Russian GM Sanan Sjugirov on Tuesday, moving ahead of his countryman GM Pentala Harikrishna and taking the lead in a match that could be crucial for him to qualify for the elite Candidates tournament.
With two and a half points, the Indian teenager now shares the lead with fellow countryman GM Pentala Harikrishna after defeating Russian grandmaster Alexandr Predke on Monday.
Gukesh had been in three straight draws at the beginning of the tournament, however they had come against the top three seeds in the Chennai event. That run came to a stop on Monday with his victory over Predke.
However, Harikrishna climbed to the top of the standings with his Tuesday draw against Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran.
Gukesh and his countryman Arjun Erigaisi are vying for a candidacy berth through the Chennai tournament, where Arjun must win hands-down.
However, Gukesh believes that he can overcome page grandmaster Anish Giri, who is now the favorite to win the Candidates spot through the FIDE Circuit, even if there is a two- or three-way tie at the top and he ends up in first or second place through the tiebreaks.
There are still two spots available for the eight-man Candidates event. One will be awarded via the FIDE Circuit method, and the other will be awarded by the FIDE ratings (rankings) route at the end of this year.
Along with Maghsoodloo of Iran, Gukesh and Erigaisi of India are vying for a position on the FIDE Circuit at the Chennai event. However, following poor performance early in the competition, the Iranian is no longer able to secure that position.
In the event that Gukesh or Arjun qualify for the Candidates, three Indians will be included in the prestigious eight-person field for the first time.
Vaishali Rameshbabu will represent India in the women’s Candidates competition, which is scheduled to take place in Toronto concurrently with the Open Candidates event. The first female grandmaster from India, Koneru Humpy, is also favored to qualify under the FIDE ratings system.
Following his historic achievement of being the first person to surpass Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian chess player in the FIDE public rankings, Gukesh has had a lackluster run of performances in recent months.
In August of this year, he was defeated by Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE World Cup quarterfinal in Baku. Carlsen also triumphed over Praggnanandhaa at the same event, but it was in the final, meaning Pragg qualified for the Candidates simply by placing in the top 3.
He was forced to depend on the FIDE Circuit route in order to qualify for the Candidates as a result of his two losses. Earlier this month, in the 13th London Chess Classic, he had to prevail. However, he was only able to place third at the London event due to losses to Jules Moussard and Hans Niemann in a field of ten.
