The first round against the young Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa could have launched him ideally into the competition, but the match ended in a draw. Alireza Firouzja put up a great fight in a tense final, having played dangerously with the clock, but failed to seize the opportunity to win. A missed opportunity, but of no consequence, as the other three games of the Toronto tournament also ended in draws.
On Friday, he was back on the chessboard against Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian, who plays under a neutral banner, is a tough nut to crack, having won the last two editions of the Candidates before losing out to Magnus Carlsen for the world title in 2021, and then to China’s Ding Liren in 2023. Firouzja showed himself to be an enterprising attacker, but once again struggled with the clock, only to find himself cornered, leaving Nepo to manoeuvre quietly to victory.
This defeat puts the Frenchman on the wrong side of the table, along with Hikaru Nakamura, beaten by Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, dominated by his compatriot Dommaraju Gukesh and Nijat Abasov, who couldn’t resist Fabiano Caruana. Caruana will face “Firou” in the third round.
