Chess: Caruana leads in Bucharest while Ding and Nepomniachtchi falter

Just eight days after their fateful title decider in Astana, China’s victorious Ding Liren and his vanquished Russian opponent, Ian Nepomniachtchi, are trailing in Bucharest. The Superbet Classic, which finishes in the Romanian capital on Monday, is the first leg of the St Louis-organised Grand Chess Tour with seven of the current world top 10 taking part.

Ding had considered withdrawal due to fatigue from the marathon series in Kazakhstan, and his first four games were halved before he lost to Alireza Firouzja, 19, who said: “For sure, it’s an easier world champion than Magnus.” Nepomniachtchi began well but then lost twice.

Fabiano Caruana, the US champion, who earned plaudits from online viewers for his lucid and perceptive insights into the world title games, began in style at Bucharest where successive wins in rounds three and four gave him the overall lead, half a point ahead of his nearest pursuers.

It was a reminder that, at his peak, Caruana was rated 2851, the all-time No 3 on official figures behind Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. Caruana is still only 30, so Carlsen’s abdication provides an opportunity for another bid for the crown which he narrowly missed in 2018.

In round three Caruana anticipated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s favourite Grunfeld 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 by launching 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 h4!?, the sharp and trendy move first popularised by England’s “Ginger GM” Simon Williams before being taken up by the elite. France’s Vachier-Lagrave elected to counter it by a version of the Benko Gambit with an early b7-b5, but after he dropped a second pawn Caruana took over. Black’s knights got in a tangle, his queen was trapped deep in the white position, and the Frenchman conceded after only 23 moves.

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