MOSCOW, June 25 Russian chess player Ian Nepomniachtchi is single-handedly leading after the first half of the tournament contenders, which takes place in Madrid. On Saturday, Nepomniachtchi defeated the Hungarian Richard Rapport with black. The game ended on the 43rd move. Nepomniachtchi's closest pursuer, American Fabiano Caruana, won with white pieces against Azerbaijan's Teimur Radjabov. Two other games by Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) — Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Ding Liren (China) — Alireza Firouzja (France) ended in a draw. Nepomniachtchi takes the first place with 5.5 points. Next come Caruana (5 points), Nakamura (3.5), Duda, Ding Liren, Rapport (3 each), Radjabov, Firouzja (2.5 each). In the next round, Nepomniachtchi will play with the Chinese Ding Liren, in the first match with whom the Russian grandmaster won.
