Can an undefeated leader with a 1.5-point lead with four rounds to go raise questions?
Yes, when he is Ian Niepómniashi, obsessed with what could happen to him if he loses a game in the Madrid Candidates Tournament.
His situation seems peaceful because the 2nd, Fabiano Caruana (USA), lost in the 10th round against the bottom, the Polish Jan Duda.
But there are two beasts on the rise, the Chinese Liren Ding and the also American Hikaru Nakamura, willing to jump for the Russian's jugular if he fails.
His commitment this Thursday will not be easy: he will lead Black against the very aggressive Franco-Iranian Alireza Firouzja, who throws the house out the window in every game.
“The important thing is not to lose”, Niepómniashi insisted again, as in the previous days, in the Chess.com studios after signing a very comfortable draw with the most boring member of the elite, the Azerbaijani Teimur Radyábov.
Everything indicates that, in his psychological preparation for the Candidates, he did not include the assumption that it would be normal to win the tournament with one defeat, or even with two, given the high level of combativeness in this edition.
But not.
What Niepómniashi assumes is that his psychological instability after a defeat, which has cost him so much trouble since his youth -including his collapse last December at the Dubai World Cup against Magnus Carlsen after falling in the marathon 6th round-, is not has remedy.
And, therefore, he takes it for granted that his first defeat would mean total catastrophe.
In the next two rounds he will face Firouzja with black, very blurred but capable of knocking down anyone one day, and with white against Nakamura, more concerned about making a lot of money with his nightly internet broadcasts, but still not ruled out of victory, to despite everything.
It is difficult to interpret what happened to Caruana.
He was unable to dive into advantageous positions against Niepomniashi in the 2nd and 9th rounds;
but, after the break on Tuesday, he went suicidal against Duda when his situation in the tournament was not yet so dire.
Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk, former world champion, takes the honorary kick in the Rapport-Ding game of the 10th roundPhoto Chess
Meanwhile, two exceptional gladiators, the Magyar Richard Rapport and Ding, delighted the present and digital viewers with an epic combat, probably the best of the tournament so far.
Ding, who was winless in seven games in the first round, started the second with a draw against Niepomniashi, and has now racked up two wins.
He is the 2nd in the world despite what his own government has harmed him during the pandemic.
When he's in shape, everyone, including Carlsen, is very afraid of him.
And everything indicates that now, adapted to the six-hour difference with China and living alone in Madrid with some walks in the Retiro Park, he is willing to push, just in case Niepómniashi succumbs to his own neuras.
Classification
(after the 10th round): 1st Niepómniashi 7 points;
2nd-4th Ding, Caruana and Nakamura 5.5;
5th-6th Radyabov 4.5;
7th Rapport, Firouzja and Duda 4.
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by Leontxo García
