TWIC round 13 report
Wonder how long today's games will beRound 13 Standings: 1 Nepomniachtchi 8.5 (having won his mini-match with Giri he cannot be overtaken as this is the first tie-break), 2 Giri 7.5, 3 Caruana 7, 4 MVL 7, 5 Grischuk 6.5, 6 Ding Liren 6, 7 Wang Hao 5 and 8 Alekseenko 4.5.
Final Round 14 Pairings: Caruana-Grischuk, Giri-Alekseenko, Ding-Nepomniachtchi and MVL-Wang Hao
Pete Doggers
In hindsight, Nepomniachtchi is the justified winner as the Russian GM was never in trouble in the second half of the tournament and grabbed his chances when they were presented to him.
The Russian grandmaster, who was born Bryansk, 379 kilometers (235 mi) southwest of Moscow, is now the fourth player who will try to dethrone Carlsen.
Chess MindA nice historic detail is that back in 2002, Nepomniachtchi won the U12 World Youth Championship where he edged out Carlsen on tiebreak. More worrying for Carlsen should be the head-to-head score: Nepomniachtchi is the only top grandmaster who has a plus score against him, leading four to one in classical games, with six draws.
Asked about his compatriot's chances in the match, Grischuk noted: "They exist. For most players, they are a bit illusory but for him, they definitely exist. Less than 50 percent but much more than zero."