Chess: Fabiano Caruana joins leaders as the Grand Swiss reaches final rounds

It is tight at the top as the $460,000 Grand Swiss at Douglas, Isle of Man, reaches its final stages this weekend. The closing rounds can be followed live and free on the official website with commentary by England’s David Howell and Jovanka Houska. Games begin at 11.45am on Friday, 2.45pm on Saturday, and 2.15pm on Sunday.

Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, the world Nos 2 and 3, are the rating favourites and both remain unbeaten, but the US pair have been unable to distance themselves from the pack. After round seven (of 11), India’s Gujrathi Vidit, 29, was the surprise leader on 5.5.7, but 11 others, including Caruana and Nakamura, were half a point behind.

Caruana finally broke through in round eight, as he took advantage of an endgame error by France’s Étienne Bacrot to win in 60 moves. Vidit v Nakamura was a quick draw. Caruana and Vidit now share the lead on 6/8 with Russia’s Andrey Esipenko and Romania’s Bogdan-Daniel Deac, with nine others, including Nakamura, half a point behind. Three rounds remain.

Earlier, Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, 17, won a vintage 24-move miniature against Samuel Sevian of the US, then displayed impressive analytical skills as he explained his ideas in his post-game interview. Sindarov is already an Olympiad gold medallist, and Caruana singled him out as a future top 10 player.

Nikita Vitiugov, formerly Russian and now the England No 1, is unbeaten with 5/8, within striking distance of the leaders. Shreyas Royal has had a fine tournament. The 14-year-old from Greenwich has met 2600+ grandmasters in all his eight games, and his 3.5/8 total means that a ninth round draw will give him his second (of three needed) grandmaster norm. Royal has not been overawed in any game, and this performance must count as the best yet of his fledgling career. His round-seven win was impressive.

With three rounds left in the $140,000 Women’s Grand Prix, Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Rameshbabu Vaishali (India) and former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) share the lead on 6/8. Top seeded Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) lost to China’s former world champion Tan Zhongyi, who is in a group of four half a point behind the leaders. The most prominent also-ran is the No 2 seed, Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland), who has only 3.5/8.

England’s top players have had mixed fortunes in the world senior championships for over-50s and over-65s, which are also in their closing stages at Terrasini, Sicily. Top seeded John Nunn won his first five over-65 games, but suffered a roundseven loss to Argentina’s Daniel Cámpora. Terry Chapman, who took on Garry Kasparov in a match at odds of pawn and two moves, has been a positive surprise and shares the lead with Cámpora and Jan Rooze (Belgium) on 6.5/8. Nunn is in a group of eight players half a point behind.

Top seeded Michael Adams has drawn his last three games in the World over-50 Championship, and is now on 6/8, in a group of six players half a point behind the clear leader Suat Atalik (Serbia).

3892: 1 Rf3! f5+ (f6 2 Kf5) 2 Kxf5! Kxd5 3 Nb6 mate.