Fabiano Caruana sprung an excellent novelty on Ian Nepomniachtchi in Round 9 of the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Madrid, but he lost his way in the complications and allowed Nepo to simplify for a draw — in fact towards the end it was Fabi who had to be careful. That leaves Nepo with a commanding 1-point lead with just 5 rounds to go in Madrid.

Jan Gustafsson had quipped the day before, "if Fabi's refuted the Petroff, tomorrow would be as good a time as any to show the world!"

Sure enough, Ian Nepomniachtchi did play the Petroff, and we did get a new idea from Fabiano Caruana!

Refutation would be an exaggeration, but the new move worked to perfection as Ian fell behind on the clock and was objectively in trouble on the board.

Fabi perhaps went for an endgame too early, however, and then needed to play with great precision to maintain his advantage.

After 18 minutes, however, Fabi went for 24.Bxf5!?, when mass exchanges saw the position simplify.

Near the end it even looked as though Fabi might lose control completely and go on to lose, but he refocussed on the goal of making a draw and safely made move 40 with 48 seconds to spare.

That draw was every bit as important as Nepomniachtchi's 4 wins earlier, and makes him a big favourite to win the event.

Elsewhere, things also went Nepo's way, with Hikaru Nakamura's momentum stopped by Teimour Radjabov winning his 1st classical game since 2019!

That wasn't the only first, as 19-year-old Alireza Firouzja picked up his first ever win in the FIDE Candidates, also ending any hopes that Richard Rapport might go on a winning streak after his Round 8 win.

On a real day of firsts Ding Liren also seems set to score his first win, against Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

Do you think Ian Nepomniachtchi can still be stopped?

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