Goryachkina is a step closer to winning the Monaco Grand Prix
Just three weeks before challenging Ju Wenjunt for the world title, Goryachkina demonstrates that she is in top shape. The Russian increases her lead, as Koneru loses her first game since the Batumi Chess Olympiad. It is all set for a very exciting last round, where Humpy and Aleksandra will finally cross swords. The ninth round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Monaco could possibly be labeled the decisive one. Aleksandra Goryachkina was hanging by a thread but escaped defeat, while Humpy Koneru lost her first game in this event. Elisabeth Paehtz has clearly been out of form in Monaco, having lost four games so far, but in her encounter with Koneru, she raised to the occasion and caused the biggest upset in the tournament so far. The German reached a typical Maroczy structure from her King’s-Indian opening and Koneru did not handle it well. Being under pressure, the Indian lost a pawn without getting enough counter chances. After White’s second pawn fell, Koneru’s position became hopeless and she resigned shortly after. At the same time, Goryachkina chose a solid but passive line of the French Defense in her game with Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya played some unusual moves at first, but her pieces suddenly sprang into action. She managed to put pressure in all areas of the board and Goryachkina clearly seemed uncomfortable. Yet, the Russian would not be the World Championship challenger if she could not handle tough positions. She defended with resilience and wisely gave up a pawn in order to exchange some pieces. It is hard to point out exactly where the advantage slipped through Muzychuk’s fingers. The game simplified into a drawish endgame after the time control, which Goryachkina held confidently. The Russian is now a full point ahead of an Indian, as Harika Dronavalli made a draw against Kateryna Lagno and caught up with her compatriot Koneru. The opening of that game was quite interesting, but as sometimes happens early simplifications resulted in a draw by repetition. Anna Muzychuk obtained a clear advantage in the opening against Pia Cramling, but later missed an important defensive resource by the Swedish champion. The final position was very unclear, as Black had no choice but sacrificing her queen, but the Ukrainian preferred not to take any risk and offered a draw. This is definitely not the tournament for Valentina Gunina, who suffered yet one more defeat, and has only one point out after nine rounds. In her game with Nana Dzagnidze, her opening turned into a disaster as she was already lost after 15 moves without any chance to put up a fight. The Russian, who started the year with a sound victory at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, has had some health problems since she arrived in Monaco and that cast a pall over her performance. Alexandra Kosteniuk won a pawn right after the opening against Zhao Xue but the Chinese did not have to worry much because of her overall activity. The game was always in balance and ended in a draw on move 42. Even though Goryachkina is a clear leader now, one point clear of Koneru, it is highly possible that the last-round encounter between the two of them will be decisive to determine the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix. Results of round 9:Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo): 0-1Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Zhao Xue (China): ½-½Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind): ½-½Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger): 0-1Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Pia Cramling (Swe): ½-½Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus): ½-½ Standings after round 9:1. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 6½ points2-3. Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli – 5½4-7. Anna Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno and Pia Cramling – 5 8. Mariya Muzychuk – 4½9. Nana Dzagnidze – 410-11. Elisabeth Paehtz and Zhao Xue – 3½12. Valentina Gunina – 1 Round 10, 13 December at 3 pm:Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Zhao Xue (China)Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus)Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus)Pia Cramling (Swe) – Humpy Koneru (Ind)Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr)Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Josif Dorfman: https://wgp2019.fide.com Pictures are available on our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik
Grand Prix Jerusalem: Wesley So advances to quarterfinals
The fourth leg of the FIDE Grand Prix Series organized by World Chess is ongoing at the Notre Dame Center Jerusalem. Yossi Gilad, Head of Engineering at Algorand, opened the round with the first symbolic move. All the return games of the first round at the Jerusalem Grand Prix were drawn with just one exception – Wesley So beat Yu Yangyi. The American became the first player to advance to the quarterfinals and was very happy to win his first match in the Grand Prix Series 2019 without playing a tiebreak. Yu Yangyi got into an unpleasant situation after sticking his bishop to e4. In order to relieve the pressure, Black temporarily sacrificed a central pawn, but then White’s pair of bishops became a dominant force. According to Yu Yangyi, he made a crucial mistake with 31…Qc4. The point is that the Chinese GM missed 35.e6 when choosing this line. Wesley managed to break through, won the game and secured his place in the second round. Ian Nepomniachtchi was on a verge of losing against Boris Gelfand, but the Israeli player did not find the precise way to convert his advantage in the middle game. Black’s 10…Bd7 was an inaccuracy, taking away an important square for the knight, which eventually retreated to g8. The correct way was 10…a5, as played long ago by the former FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman. Being under the time pressure Boris Gelfand missed his last chance to play for a win with 34.c6. Nepomniachtchi was clearly relieved after the game, admitting that he had to defend a really bad position. Wang Hao also was in a very dubious situation against David Navara but got out unscathed. This game went on for more than 80 moves and was the last to end. Wang Hao said afterward that he could not concentrate well and simply blundered a pawn. The Chinese grandmaster was even thinking about resigning in the endgame but after Navara’s king left the safe corner, he got some hopes to save the game. These hopes eventually materialized into a half-point. Dmitry Andreikin and Radek Wojtaszek took quite some time in the opening despite all the moves being well-known theory. Black’s 15…c5 was the key move to equalize but Andreikin believed White could still try to play for a win. A few inaccurate moves by Wojtaszek gave the Russian an advantage that he was unable to convert into a full point. Ironically, the second game of their match ended up with the same drawish endgame – two kings and a pawn. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also felt fortunate to have avoided elimination. The Sicilian Four Knights, which is the Azeri’s specialty, developed into a normal position until Mamedyarov fell into temptation and snatched the g2-pawn. Dmitry Jakovenko missed a great opportunity to play 23.Rh2! holding onto the h4-pawn, with the idea of Rg1 coming in next. 24…g5 also seemed a bit too much but Dmitry probably was not precise enough and the game ended with repetition. Anish Giri and Wei Yi drew after only 10 moves and delayed their showdown until the tiebreak. Their first game was the longest of the first day though. “My biggest chess hero is Magnus Carlsen and I’m slowly learning his tricks. This time I borrowed his tricks from the world championship match and just decided to go for tie-break” Anish Giri commented after the game. The encounter between Sergey Karjakin and Pentala Harikrishna featured the line of the Italian game, which has been always favored by Sveshnikov and also came into fashion lately. After massive exchanges, the position became roughly equal and the game ended in a draw by repetition. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave did not find a way to crack Veselin Topalov’s Berlin Ruy Lopez. With an exchange sacrifice, Black created some sort of a fortress, which turned out to be unassailable. All that means that there will be a record amount of tiebreaks (7!) on December 13:Topalov vs Vachier-LagraveWojtaszek vs AndreikinNepomniachtchi vs GelfandWei vs GiriHarikrishna vs KarjakinNavara vs WangMamedyarov vs Jakovenko Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Anastasiya Karlovich Official Photographer: Niki Riga World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press from the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerUsetech as the partner of the Jerusalem Grand PrixPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner