The FIDE Candidates tournament has reached its second rest day, separating the first half from the second. Each player faced everyone else once, and we now have a solo leader.

Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won two previous Candidates tournaments in a row, is looking for a three-peat. After seven rounds out of fourteen, the Russian GM has 4.5 points out of 7 possible. His last three matches ended in a draw, but games against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Hikaru Nakamura were a mixture of action movies and thrillers.

The Japanese-American streamer prepared an unusual variation of Petrov's defence and got an extra rook. However, Ian managed to play almost perfectly, and this match ended in a draw. As usual, Hikaru himself recorded a post-match analysis that provided great insight into the game.

The last three days were relatively good for Nakamura: he had two draws and a win against Alireza Firouzja. With 3.5 points out of 7, he now shares 5-6th place, one point behind the sole leader Ian Nepomniachtchi. All players have seven more games. The winner of the tournament gets to challenge chess world champion Ding Liren.

Main image: x.com

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