Caruana Candidates

First half:  5 out of 7,    no losses

Second half:  1.5 out of 7,    4 losses

Sheesh.

Radjabov had a similar split between 1st and 2nd half, only in reverse (scoring horribly in the first half).

Tough breaks happen, especially in a tournament like the Candidates. I personally feel like the pressure caught up with him after he pushed so hard to try to catch Ian. Fabi is an astounding player but everyone is susceptible to nerves

Caruana broke with Kasimdzhanov.

Emotions and nerves play a huge part in these long top level events. If you start feeling down it's very difficult to keep yourself objective and keep playing good moves. Even Nakamura in the last game, trade some rooks and its drawn but something was off. 

Radjabov after first half was probably relieved of the pressure when he realized ye has nothing on the line anymore and the first win gave him confidence. 

If Carlsen does not play then Ding can play for the World Championship, so 2nd place matters.

#11
"We'll see" - Carlsen

Fabio lost his way again

Nepo vs Carlsen again ))

Nepo had the lead since the start and that gave him strength moving forward. The others saw what it was like to be in Nepo's shoes from last year. Some of them tried beating Nepo too hard to catch him, and he capitalized on that very well extending his lead. I would say that is why Caruana played badly afterwards. It was kind of a snowball effect for him and perhaps some of the others. 

Generally speaking, Nepo was playing well and that broke the others this time. I hope Carlsen will play because, in my humble opinion, none of the others deserve a shot at the title at this time.