A famous chess streamer Anna Cramling streamed the Closing ceremony live:

Anna Cramling streamed the closing press conference live on her twitch channel, and you can replay the stream below.

Ding Liren – Hikaru Nakamura 1-0

The key game of the last round was initially developing well for Hikaru Nakamura, who needed just a draw to secure the second place. He managed to neutralize Ding’s opening advantage quite easily, landing the game into a balanced, almost symmetrical, endgame. Everything seemed to be petering towards a draw, as more and more pieces got swapped.

The turning point came on move 32. After Ding offered to repeat moves once (most likely just testing Nakamura, not with a true intent to draw the game), Nakamura sidestepped with the active 32…Bh4 move, but mixed up something and couple of moves later moved the bishop back in panic with 35…Bd8, which tured out to be the real mistake. Ding Liren stabilized a big advantage after the first time control.

It was only a matter of time before his dominating position, even if the material was equal, materialized into a full point. A great performance for Ding considering his terrible start into the tournament; it was impossible to imagine him finishing in clear second place after starting with one loss and 7 draws in a row. 

Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Ian Nepomniachtchi ½-½

Similarly to the previous edition of the Candidates, Nepomniachtchi was extremely shaky once the tension was gone after winning with a round to spare. Jan-Krzysztof Duda managed to punch a hole in his solid preparation in Petroff defense and come out  with a courageous attack on the kingside, bringing the tournament winner to the brink of his first loss in the tournament.

Nevertheless, the young Pole, who had a tough second half of the tournament, was not precise enough and instead of the critical 23.Rxd8+ followed by 24.Rd1, he decided to force the matter. Flashy bishop sacrifice led only to simplifications, though, and players soon found themselves in a drawish endgame — the scoresheet was signed a couple of moves later after massive exchanges, with no mating material left on the board.

The last bits of pressure have fallen off the new challenger after the game ended: “Now it’s time [to enjoy]. I won’t tell you [what my plans for the evening are]. (…) I will have about a 10 days break [before the Grand Chess Tour starts], to exhale a little bit. I will see, but I’m looking forward, finally some games without huge pressure.”

Richard Rapport – Teimour Radjabov 0-1

Teimour Radjabov had a surprisingly good tournament after a couple of dry years, not playing classical chess much and showing a particularly bad performance just a couple of weeks before in Stavanger during Norway Chess. Taking down Nakamura and Ding in the second half, trying to keep matters as solid as possible throughout the tournament, he took on Richard Rapport with the black pieces.

The Hungarian cannot be overly satisfied with his performance — especially the unnecessary loss against Nepomniachtchi in Round 7 that will enter the books. He tried to push his luck one more time and got a very perspective position with quite some creative middlegame play. He was just the precise 20.h4! move away from starting a powerful attack against Radjabov’s king.

But he took the creative spirit too far and overpressed with 20.Ng5? piece sacrifice. Black was clearly not comfortable at all and Radjabov was shaking his head a lot, and gradually repelled Rapport’s attack while keeping the material advantage. There were ways to put up more resistance from White’s side, but never enough compensation for the piece. Instead, Rapport quickly collapsed and the third victory helped Radjabov to climb to the shared 3rd place.

Fabiano Caruana – Alireza Firouzja 0-1

Both players must have been terribly disappointed with the tournament — Fabiano Caruana had a great start into the tournament and was сhasing Ian Nepomniachtchi until his loss against Nakamura in round 8. On the opposing side, Alireza Firouzja was one of the biggest favorites on paper, yet his Candidates performance was underwhelming from start to finish.

Fabiano Caruana got a nice Anti-Berlin position and it seemed like a one-sided game after he managed to install an invulnerable knight on e4 in the middlegame. Yet he decided to go for complications, giving up all his positional pluses and opening the position. Soon, the tables turned completely and Firouzja was clearly winning.

It seemed like a futile defensive task for the American, but he managed to create sufficient counter-chances and actually bring the game back into drawish territory. Unfortunately for him, he slipped at the last moment, on the second time control move and lost his last pawn, allowing Firouzja to win in this marathon endgame. 

Replay the broadcast from round 14 here.

Congratulations to the winner Ian Nepomniachtchi for his brilliant performance, and to the runner-up Ding Liren for his incredible comeback. We will see whether we’ll finally have a rematch between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, or a match between Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren — that mystery is yet to unfold!

Latest from the Candidates: 
Ian Nepomniachtchi wins FIDE Candidates Chess 2022 with a round to spare 
Ian Nepomniachtchi speaks about the Candidates and World Championship Match (VIDEO) 
Magnus Carlsen negotiates the format of the World Chess Championship Match

Featured photo: FIDE/David Llada

Reactions on Nakamura’s loss and recap:

Ding Liren – Hikaru Nakamura, R14 Candidates Chess 2022

All the eyes will be on the game between the Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren and the American Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura is currently in sole second, having half a point lead over Ding Liren. Liren is in a must-win situation to reach the second position. Their 6th round encounter finished in a draw.

Replay the game – Hikaru Nakamura – Ding Liren 1/2-1/2, R6 Candidates Chess 2022

Richard Rapport – Teimour Radjabov, R14 Candidates Chess 2022

After a slow start, Teimour Radjabov leaped on the shared fourth place with 6.5 points, while Richard Rapport scores 5.5 points positioned in 6th place. With the last round victory, Radjabov could clinch bronze in the 2022 Candidates. The Round 6 game between the opponents was finished in a draw, as the Azerbaijani missed a huge chance in an endgame to play for a win.

Replay the game – Teimour Radjabov – Richard Rapport 1/2-1/2, R6 Candidates Chess 2022

Fabiano Caruana – Alireza Firouzja, R14 Candidates Chess 2022

Fabiano Caruana was the first chaser of Ian Nepomniachtchi most of the time. Caruana is out of chances for the second place, but he is in the race for the bronze. On the other hand, Alireza Firouzja bottoms the crosstable with 5 points. Firouzja and Caruana’s sixth round encounter ended with Fabi’s victory.

Replay the game – Alireza Firouzja – Fabiano Caruana 0-1, R6 Candidates Chess 2022

Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Ian Nepomniachtchi, R6 Candidates Chess 2022

Ian Nepomniachtchi won the FIDE Candidates Tournament with a round to spare, and he plays the last round of the event without any pressure. He was victorious in the sixth round game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who is now in a tie for the last position with 5 points.

Replay the game – Ian Nepomniachtchi – Jan-Krzysztof Duda 1-0, Candidates Chess 2022

Ian Nepomniachtchi makes a comfortable draw with the white pieces against Rapport and clinches the tournament victory with one round to spare. Thus, he also becomes challenger for the title of World Champion!

Round 13 results:
Ian Nepomniachtchi – Richard Rapport 1/2-1/2
Hikaru Nakamura – Jan-Krzysztof Duda 1-0
Alireza Firouzja – Ding Liren 1/2-1/2
Teimour Radjabov – Fabiano Caruana 1/2-1/2

Hikaru Nakamura scored an important point against Duda and is in second place right now. The fight for second place continues, as Hikaru has half a point lead over Ding Liren, whom he’s facing tomorrow. The American has everything in his hands should Magnus Carlsen decide not to defend his title and give up a spot in the match for the 2nd finisher in the 2022 FIDE Candidates. Will the top two finishers in the tournament play against each other instead? We managed to ask the world champion himself when he appeared at the playing venue of the Candidates today.

Ian Nepomniachtchi – Richard Rapport ½-½

Richard Rapport displayed the will to fight, replying 1…c5 to Nepomniachtchi’s first move, steering the game to the Classical Variation of the Sicilian. Nevertheless, he did not manage to surprise the tournament leader who swapped down to a drawish endgame at the very first chance. Ian Nepomniachtchi was even slightly better towards the end and made a draw by repetition from a position of strength.

Since Nepomniachtchi entered the 13th round with a 2-point lead, a draw was mathematically enough to grant him the victory and a ticket to the World Championship match against Magnus Carlsen. And history repeats itself, as Nepomniachthi won the Candidates with a round to spare for the second time in a row. He received warm applause from the audience in the venue today and was also praised by the World Champion himself. “He was criminally underrated by pundits and betting odds, but I still thought that Ding or Fabiano were even bigger favorites. But kudos, he’s done really well,” commented Magnus Carlsen on Nepomniachtchi’s performance during this tournament. 

Check out our interview with the winner of the tournament right after the last game finished: “[I feel] exhausted. (…) I was more or less sure, having like 2 points advantage with two rounds to go, but the job had to be done.”

Alireza Firouzja – Ding Liren ½-½

The new World Championship Challenger was not the only player happy to make a draw with White in this round. Alireza Firouzja, one of the biggest favorites before the tournament started, is struggling at the very bottom of standings, and tried to quickly force a draw against Ding Liren in the 4 knights opening.

The Chinese grandmaster, playing Black pieces, still had a lot to play for as he’s still fighting for the second place, and took over the initiative after Firouzja’s imprecise play. Sacrificing a pawn, he eventually got his central pawns rolling in an opposite bishop and rook endgame. Things started to looking scary for the Frenchman.

Nevertheless, Alireza Firouzja managed to get his nerves back under control and at the right moment, neutralized all the danger with a bishop sacrifice. The tension was gone, and with a lot of pawns for the sacrificed piece there was nothing left for Ding Liren but to let his opponent escape with a perpetual check.

Teimour Radjabov – Fabiano Caruana ½-½

Fabiano Caruana tried to invite Radjabov into a complicated position, offering as many as 3 pawns as a sacrifice in the opening. Radjabov, somehow unexpectedly entering the fight for second place, did not seem overly interested in pushing his luck too much. After the third pawn was sacrificed, the Azeri grandmaster quickly steered the game into an endgame, subsequently giving back both pawns and letting the game peter out into a draw.

Hikaru Nakamura – Jan-Krzysztof Duda 1-0

An original handling of the Najdorf, starting with 16.h4 and sacrificing a pawn later on, suddenly turned against the American star. Duda had an extra pawn and Nakamura did not manage to get enough compensation to keep equality. After Duda found the way to break free with the move 32…b5 Black’s position looked very promising.  Strangely enough, things went downhill very quickly from there. He let his advantage slip in just a couple of moves, and then, clearly disapointed by these developments, the Polish grandmaster lost the track of the game.

By the time players arrived at the time control, the game was basically over. Hikaru Nakamura converted his advantage precisely and went from a disaster to a great step towards the second place in the Candidates.

Replay the broadcast from round 13 here.

With the first place settled, there’s only one question remaining: how will the fight for the second place unfold? Ding Liren is in a must-win situation with the white pieces against Hikaru Nakamura — either he wins and claims the second spot for himself, or Nakamura defends his position and, potentially, even a world championship match qualification. 

Tune in to the stream from the last round of the 2022 FIDE Candidates with grandmasters Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan and international master Dorsa Derakshani at 7:50 CDT on uschesschamps.com or YouTube and Twitch.