Chess: Nepomniachtchi and Caruana lead in Madrid with Carlsen in sight

After six of the 14 rounds at the world championship Candidates in Madrid, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana, the 2021 and 2018 title challengers, have broken away from their rivals. The pair will meet in Monday’s ninth round (2pm start, live and free to watch on major chess websites) in what could be the tournament decider.

It is a surprise result so far, and one which may test the resolve of the world champion, Magnus Carlsen, who has said that he is unlikely to defend his crown again if the opponent is from his own generation. Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi are both 31, Caruana is 29. If the Norwegian, widely regarded as the No 1 chess player of all time, refuses to play, then under the rules the top two in Madrid will meet in a world championship series.

Carlsen’s reluctance to compete is due to the heavy workload and boring grind of two months of intensive preparation, plus a month for the match itself. After four successful title defences, he prefers his new self-imposed challenge of setting a new record of 2900 rating points for overall performance.

Scores after six of the 14 rounds and before Friday’s rest day were Nepomniachtchi (Fide/Russia) 4.5/6, Caruana (US) 4, Hikaru Nakamura (US) and Richard Rapport (Hungary) 3, Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) and Ding Liren (China) 2.5, Alireza Firouzja (France) 2.

The pre-tournament favourites Ding and Firouzja have both failed, and are already too far behind the leaders for realistic recovery hopes. Ding arrived in Madrid only two days before the start, and his crushing round-one defeat to Nepomniachtchi seemed to stem at least partly from jet-lag.

Firouzja, 19, came ready with sharp openings, but his opponents had prepared better. Teenagers