D. Gukesh suffered a setback in the seventh round of the Candidates chess tournament, losing to France’s Alireza Firouzja at Toronto on Thursday. His defeat left defending champion Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia as the sole leader at the half-way stage ahead of a rest day.
Nepomniachtchi, who drew with second seed Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, has 4.5 points. Gukesh, the top-seeded American Fabiano Caruana, and Praggnanandhaa are second with four points each.
The game between Praggnanandhaa and Caruana ended in a draw. The other Indian in the fray, Vidit Gujrathi, split the point with Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov.
