In Chess, India’s 17-year-old sensation, D. Gukesh became the sole leader of the FIDE Candidates 2024 ahead of the final round in Toronto, Canada today. Operating with white pieces, Gukesh defeated Alireza Firouzja of Iran in the 13th and penultimate round of the Open section after a series of accurate moves. Gukesh, at 8.5 points will take on Hikaru Nakamura of USA, with black pieces in the last round tomorrow morning. A win for Gukesh, against the American, would make him the champion. A draw for Gukesh and a peace treaty between Fabiano Caruana of USA and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia would also be sufficient for the young Indian to emerge victorious.

In other matches, top seed Fabiano Caruana beat another Indian, R. Praggnanandhaa in 89 moves. While, Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi played out a sedate draw, which pulled Nepomniachtchi from the top spot for the first time. The match between another Indian, Vidit Gujrathi and Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan also ended up in a draw. Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and Caruana now jointly hold the second spot at 8 points.

In the Women’s section, India’s R. Vaishali stunned Lei Tingjie of China in the 13th round, while another Indian, Koneru Humpy drew with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in 45 moves. Vaishali now shares the third spot with compatriot Humpy and the Russian duo of Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, while the Chinese, Tan Zhongyi leads the points table.