The fireworks-filled Candidates Tournament ended in a dramatic denouement as four players remained in the running for the title of 'Challenger' for the World Championship ahead of the final round of play.
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After two hard-fought draws, no one could stop 17-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju from fulfilling his chess dream and setting up a brilliant confrontation with Ding Liren later that year. With that, he could well mean a major generational change in the chess world.
Gukesh, the Indian grandmaster born in 2006 and most often called by his first name, was the eventual winner of the 2024 Candidates Tournament, which remained exciting until the very end. The young phenom had to defend the fortress with the black pieces against Hikaru Nakamura himself, while hoping that the battle between Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi would end in a draw, which is exactly what happened in the final round of the game.
Although Caruana had excellent chances to beat Nepomniachtchi, a combination of time-trouble and exhaustion saw him eventually lose a +4 position and end up in a draw. Both players had a chance to secure a tiebreaker with a win and ultimately extinguished the light for each other – and in their post-match analysis they could be heard saying to each other: "I'm so sorry".
