Work harder, rest longer: Mantra for India's Candidates on rest days

BEFORE THEY LEFT for Toronto to compete at the biggest tournament of the year, Viswanathan Anand hosted four of India's five Candidates contenders at his home over dinner.

There, five-time world champion Anand reached into his memories of playing at bigticket events like the Candidates Tournament 2024 to offer insights. "There is no greater joy on earth than winning before a rest day," he declared at one point.

It's a feeling that none of the five Indians at the Candidates are experiencing as the tournament reaches its second rest day.

R Praggnanandhaa is probably the most satisfied out of the Indian quintet, after playing out a calm draw with Fabiano Caruana, the top-ranked player in the eight-man field and a fifth-time participant at the high-stakes event. Vidit Gujrathi might have mixed feelings, having stemmed the sequence of defeats with a win and a draw heading into the rest day, even if the latter came against rank outsider Nijat Abasov.

On the women's side, while R Vaishali lost to Lei Tingjie and Koneru Humpy agreed to a draw with Anna Muzychuk, both the Indians are at the bottom of the standings at the halfway mark.