Candidates 2024: Praggnanandhaa, Vidit secure wins; Humpy, Vaishali lose

R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi secured excellent victories over Nijat Abasov and Alireza Firouzja respectively, Gukesh D was held to a draw against Hikaru Nakamura at the round 6 of Candidates 2024, on Thursday.

All the games in the Women's Candidates gave a result in round 6 but disappointingly, both the Indian players, Vaishali and Koneru Humpy suffered defeats.

The game between Praggnanandhaa and Nijat Abasov was edge-of-the-seat stuff with both players pulling out scintillating moves. But Praggnanandhaa held his nerve and his calculations proved fruitful as he overcame his opponent. With this win, he moves to joint third place with 2.5 points in the Open Candidates table.

Vidit Gujrathi continued to impress everyone, especially the crowd with his exciting playstyle, and to add to that, he also ended up victorious against Alireza Firouzja. He now climbs to 6th in the table with 3 points.

Gukesh D, joint table topper with defending champion and two-time winner Ian Nepomniachtchi, drew against Hikaru Nakamura. He will remain joint top as Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana played out a draw.

Over on the women's side, things aren't looking as good with both Indian women suffering defeats in round 6. Vaishali lost to Kateryna Lagno, who won her first game of the tournament after two disappointing draws. She now sits sixth in the table with 2.5 points.

World no.5 Koneru Humpy's rather disappointing tournament continues with the veteran grandmaster losing to Lei Tingjie despite playing with white. She sits in the last position having accumulated just 2 points after 6 rounds.

Although things may not seem good for Humpy, there is still a long way to go and she, along with Vaishali will no doubt be determined to make a strong comeback in the upcoming games.