New Delhi: After round 4 of the Candidates tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi gained the solo lead after crushing Firouzja on board. Ian seems to be determined to become the World Championship Challenger again as he played an attacking game yesterday. Rest of the games ended in a draw.
An interesting incident happened before the games of round 4 began. FIDE got Hikaru Nakamura’s wallet searched with a metal detector.
♚ @GMHikaru got his wallet scanned with a metal detector and he ain’t loving it. #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/Vp5MM6bvIt
— Chess.com (@chesscom) June 21, 2022
In response, Hikaru tweeted saying, “An interesting day. Got searched by FIDE and wrestled with a Hungarian over the board. Video recap is up – title is “Dear YouTube, I Had This One in My Wallet.” A sense of humor is needed to get through this.”
An interesting day. Got searched by FIDE and wrestled with a Hungarian over the board. Video recap is up – title is “Dear YouTube, I Had This One in My Wallet.” A sense of humor is needed to get through this. ?
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) June 21, 2022
GM Anish Giri, who is known for his witty tweets, also took on Twitter to share his views regarding the incident.
I like what FIDE is doing. The game’s main ambassador has already started wearing a really cool blue-on-blue t-shirt with a jacket (stylish as hell) and now he is also forced to buy a proper montblanc wallet with some real cash in it instead of some plastic cards. Way to go. pic.twitter.com/biM35sb6uX
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) June 21, 2022
Ian Nepomniachtchi Vs Alireza Firouzja
Firouzja chose to go for the Sicilian defence against Nepomniachtchi in round 4 of the Candidates tournament. It was a game of opposite side castling and Ian was in a mood to attack. Just out of the opening, Nepomniachtchi launched an attack on Firouzja’s king. Firouzja also tried to attack the white king, but soon went wrong when Nepo’s queen captured a pawn on b4. On move 36 Nepomniachtchi sacrificed his rook, which was objectively not the best move. Alireza accepted the sacrifice and invited a mating attack. Firouzja had to resign on move 39 after Rg1+.
Richard Rapport Vs Hikaru Nakamura
Rapport went for the Ruy Lopez and Nakamura replied with the Berlin Defence. The game saw some quick exchanges and ended in a draw on move 44. It was an equal game throughout and an easy draw for the grandmasters.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda Vs Teimour Radjabov
Another game that saw Berlin Defence also ended in a draw. Both players castled on the opposite sides and the game reached a rook ending on move 27. With equal pawns and one rook each, the players drew the game on move 41.
Ding Liren Vs Fabiano Caruana
Ding Liren had the white pieces and was a pawn up out of the opening. Fabiano played well and held the game to a draw in the rook ending. It was a game of experience and class and proved to be an entertaining one for the chess community.
Standings after Round 4
