WGP New Dehli Round 5 Recap: Zhu Jiner takes the lead
Zhu Jiner scored an impressive victory over one of the tournament favourites, Kateryna Lagno, to reach 3½ points and take the lead in New Delhi More drama unfolded on the fifth day of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi, with three decisive outcomes and one draw. Results of Round 5: Zhu Jiner – Katerina Lagno, 1-0Nana Dzagnidze – Humpy Koneru, 0-1Bibisara Assaubayeva – Harika Dronavalli, 1-0Vaishali Rameshbabu – Nino Batsiashvili, ½ – ½ Polina Shuvalova and Aleksandra Goryachkina had a free day. In a tense battle in the Sicilian, in what was only their second encounter so far, Zhu came out victorious against Kateryna Lagno. Zhu is now the leader with 3½ points. Lagno is on two points. Nana Dzagnidze was surprised by Humpy Koneru who grabbed the initiative early on in the Queen’s gambit declined. Despite efforts to hold back Black’s advances, Dzagnidze was powerless and lost. She now has 1½ points while Koneru has 2½. Harika Dronavalli had a similar experience as Dzagnidze. Playing as Black against Bibisara Assaubayeva, in the Reverse Benoni, Dronavalli got into a passive position in the middlegame and couldn’t find a way out. After nearly five hours of play, spent mostly in defence, Dronavalli had to put up the white flag. A great comeback for Bibisara following a defeat in the fourth round. She is now on three points out of four games played, while Dronavalli has 2½ (but with one bye). In a game full of twists and turns, the youngest player in the tournament Vaishali Rameshbabu drew with Nino Batsiashvili of Georgia. The two played the Italian game, and the position was mostly even, but, towards the end, Viashali blundered and lost an exchange. Luckily for her, Batsiashvili erred in return and, in the end, the two agreed to a draw. Both have played only three games so far. Batsiashvili has two points while Vaishali Rameshbabu is on 1½. Let’s take a look at today’s games in more detail. Zhu Jiner – Katerina Lagno The two have met only once so far and Lagno came out victorious in the Four knights variation of the Sicilian Defence. Now, in their second duel, the Sicilian Defence was played once again, but Lagno went for the Taimanov which quickly transposed into a topical line of Scheveningen which was very popular about 30 years ago.Zhu implemented a standard plan for organising an attack on the black king’s fortress, while Lagno countered by aligning her queen and bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal, aiming at White’s monarch. Zhu proceeded with her kingside push with 17.f5, which is the most popular move in this position. However, Black had enough pieces, space and time to coordinate a response. After 17…exf5 18.Rxf5 Kateryna responded with precise 18…Ne8! 19.Bd3 g6 20.Rf1 Rd8. Black maintained equality and the position was even. Following the exchange of several other pieces, the two reached the following position. White is pressuring on f7 but Black can hold if playing precisely. For example after 27…Qd7 or 27…f6 Black is fine. However, with about 10 minutes left on the clock, Lagno blundered 27…Nd6??, allowing White to execute some tactics for a winning position. 28.Nxh7! Kxh7 29.Rh3 Rh5 30.Rxh5 gxh5 31.Re5 Ne8 Now Black has to give up her queen. 32.Rxh5 Kg8 33.Qf5 Qg6 34.Rg5 Ng7 35.Rxg6 fxe6 36.Qd5+ Kh7 37.h3 White is winning. Her queen is dominating, her king is secure and White’s queenside passer will cost black a piece. Zhu scored yet another victory in the Grand Prix in New Delhi and now has 3½ points, while Lagno remains on two points. Nana Dzagnidze – Humpy Koneru The two have played 29 games so far and each has nine victories, with 11 draws. After the fifth round in New Delhi, Humpy is in the lead. Koneru opted to play the Queen’s Gambit declined, going for a sharp line with 5…Bb4. Nana seemed surprised and started spending much more time thinking. A sharp position emerged on the board soon after the first opening moves. Here Dzagnidze played a dubious move (as it turned out later) 13.f3. After 11…Nxg3 12.Nxg3 Humpy introduced a novelty 12…Be6! After this move (the first line of chess engines) Black is already slightly better. The opponents proceeded with 13.Qa4 Nc6 14.Bb5 and here Koneru opted to exchange her bishop on b4 for a knight on c3, after which the position became equal. A better choice was 15…Bd7. However, just a couple of moves down the road Nana made a serious inaccuracy and Humpy got the upper hand. Nana just played 16.Qc2? but after 16…gxh4 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 Black emerged clearly better: she has a secure king, unexposed weaknesses and more active pieces and open lines on the kingside. On top of this, Nana was also short on time. Still, White had defensive resources, but Nana’s 24th move was a costly mistake. After 24.e4? (consolidating 24.Re2 was much better) Black managed to transfer her rook from h6 to the a-file, threatening White all along the width of the board. Ultimately, Dzagnidze lost the central pawn on d4. But Nana was still fighting on. She picked up White’s h4-pawn and had three against one on the kingside, but it was not enough as Black’s heavy pieces were positioned well to penetrate White’s camp. Humpy first picked up the a2 pawn and then proceeded to pillage white pieces on the kingside. Nana had no chances but still played on, in the spirit of the saying that “a game is never lost until you resign”. In the end, however, she had to accept the inevitable and capitulate. Dzagnidze is now on 1½ out of five games, while Humpy is on 2½ points. Bibisara Assaubayeva – Harika Dronavalli The duel between Bibisara and Harika turned into a very original game. The two had an even score against one another until now – two victories each. Following 1.c4 e6 Bibisara entered the so-called Reversed Benoni. After 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d4 White opted for a less common line – with 5.d3. After 5…Bb4+ 6.Nbd2, Black played a questionable novelty with 6…Be7 instead of the known move 6….a5. Bibisara had an interesting option
WCF Game 2: Lei Tingjie grinds down Tan Zhongyi and ties the match
Employing impressive technique in today’s second game, Lei Tingjie relentlessly jumped back into the match, and with four games to go, the Women’s Candidates Final is once again completely open. After nearly six hours of play and seventy gruelling moves, with everything pointing towards a draw, a last-minute mistake by Tan Zhongyi in severe time trouble put the 1-1 result on the scoreboard. The second game of the match began as usual at 3 pm local in Chongqing. Trailing her opponent by a full point on the scoreboard, the onus was on Lei Tingjie to showcase her skills with the White pieces. She opened the game with 1.d4, and both players went for the fashionable Queen’s Gambit. On move three, Tan Zhongyi opted for 3…dxc4, and a few moves down the line, the position transposed into one of the most exciting lines of the Semi-Slav defence, in which White sacrifices a pawn for the initiative. According to my database, Lei Tingjie usually plays it safe in the opening – therefore, maybe she was slightly surprised by this turn of events. One can never know for sure, but there is a possibility that both players ended up in a position somewhat unknown to them in their wish to sidestep their opponent’s preparation. The first major deviation from theory was played by Tan Zhongyi. Her choice 7…Qb6 is fairly unknown at the top level, whereas 7…a5 would lead to the trendy Noteboom variation. Sensing the danger, she intelligently gave back her extra pawn to finish her development and castle. A few moves later, after an inaccuracy by her opponent, Lei Tingjie missed a golden opportunity to strike first with 21.Nxb4 Qxb4 followed by 22.Qc2. According to the engines, the threats on b4, f6, and e6 would have offered White excellent chances to bring home the full point. Nonetheless, Lei Tingjie continued pressing her small positional advantage: two bishops and a slightly favourable pawn structure gave her a decent edge in the late middlegame and early stages of the endgame. Although Tan Zhongyi displayed excellent defensive skills, Lei Tingjie pushed on, understanding that her opportunity might arrive in time trouble. Finally, they reached an opposite-colour bishop endgame, which is generally well-known for its drawing tendency. Fate struck on move seventy-one. Tan Zhongyi could have held the draw with 7….Be8, but instead, she played 71…Bg4? and after White’s 72.Kg6! was forced to exchange her h-pawn for the opponent’s f-pawn allowing Lei Tingjie to win the game by advancing her two connected passed pawns. Commentating live from the venue, GM Alik Gershon summarized the situation fantastically: “Very impressive technique by Lei. Slightly unfortunate for Tan, but this is how you can lose these types of positions. White can make many small mistakes and still have chances, while Black can’t make any mistakes because she can lose immediately.” Co-commentator WIM Qiu Mengjie agreed: “If White makes a mistake, she will always have the draw at hand.” The third game of the match will be disputed tomorrow, March 31st. Tan Zhongyi will play with the White pieces. You can follow all the games with live commentaries on the FIDE YouTube Channel. Text: IM Michael Rahal Photo: Liu Yi Official website: womenscandidates.fide.com/ The match The 2023 FIDE Women’s Candidates Final is being disputed in Chongqing (China) from March 27th to April 6th. Chinese Grandmasters Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi face each other in a six-game classical chess match. The winner will receive 60.000 euros and the right to challenge the current Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun for the title in July. The venue Strategically positioned as a gateway to China’s west, Chongqing is China’s major modernized manufacturing base, a financial center, and an international transport hub in Western China. Home to more than 32 million people, it was an obvious choice for hosting the event as both players were born in the city. In addition, it’s an important center of chess activity in the country, abode to many important chess clubs and academies. A fun fact – both Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi are teammates at the Chongqing Sports Lottery Chess Club.
Meri Arabidze clinches European Women’s Chess Championship
After eleven thrilling rounds at the European Women’s Chess Championship 2023, two players emerged on the top, tying for first place with 8.5 points each: IM Meri Arabidze (GEO, 2433) and IM Oliwia Kiolbasa (POL, 2406). Thanks to her 8th-round victory in the direct encounter over the Polish IM (the first tiebreaker), Meri Arabidze clinched the European Women’s Chess Champion title. Oliwia Kiolbasa (pictured above) had to settle for the silver medal. Four players scored 8 points each to tie for third place: IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2388), IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE, 2358), IM Salome Melia (GEO, 2366) and IM Klaudia Kulon (POL, 2290). Aleksandra Maltsevskaya had the best tiebreaks and claimed bronze. Final standings: 1 IM Arabidze, Meri GEO 2433 8½ 2 IM Kiolbasa, Oliwia POL 2406 8½ 3 IM Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra POL 2388 8 4 IM Tsolakidou, Stavroula GRE 2358 8 5 IM Melia, Salome GEO 2366 8 6 IM Kulon, Klaudia POL 2290 8 7 IM Javakhishvili, Lela GEO 2443 7½ 8 IM Garifullina, Leya FID 2372 7½ 9 FM Toncheva, Nadya BUL 2192 7½ 10 IM Sargsyan, Anna M. ARM 2371 7½ Complete results The Closing ceremony of the event took place yesterday evening with the attendance of ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President Alojzije Jankovic, ECU CEO Erald Dervishi, ECU Honorary Vice President and Vice President of the Montenegro Chess Federation Veselin Draskovic, and the President of the Montenegro Chess Federation Jovan Milovic. The European Women’s Chess Championship 2023 took place from March 17-30 in Petrovac, Montenegro, and brought together over 130 players from 34 federations. The total prize fund of the event was EUR 60,000, and according to the ECU Board decision and FIDE regulations, nine players qualified for the next FIDE Women’s World Cup. Text: europechess.org/ Photo: Official website
Cyprus to host fourth stage of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix
The fourth and decisive leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix will take place in Cyprus from May 15 to May 28. The event will be held under the auspices of the Cyprus Chess Federation and supported by the Limassol-based Freedom Finance Europe, the European subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp. “This event is one more step towards strengthening our intended long-term partnership with Freedom Holding Corp., following the successful cooperation during the World Rapid and Blitz in Almaty and the upcoming World Championship Match in Astana, where Freedom Holding will be the General Partner,” said FIDE’s CEO Emil Sutovsky. “I would also like to stress that Cyprus has never hosted any major FIDE event or any other chess event of this caliber. Bringing top-level competitions to the countries which haven’t staged top-level events for many years – or ever, like the recently announced Candidates Tournament in Canada, or the Olympic Esports Series in Singapore, is one of FIDE’s goals, and we are happy to make it possible thanks to the support of Freedom Finance Europe,” he added. “We are honored to sponsor this tournament. We know that both in chess and in business, success often depends on the will to win and the ability to think a few steps ahead. Freedom Holding Corp. and its founder Timur Turlov, the head of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, do a lot to popularize chess and educate new champions. Thanks to our joint efforts with FIDE, chess has been attracting more players, helping them to realize their potential and achieve high goals. We sincerely wish all the participants spectacular chess ideas and fair victories. I am sure that we will see many beautiful and interesting games,” said Evgeniy Tyapkin, Executive Director of Freedom Finance Europe. Criton Tornaritis, President of the Cyprus Chess Federation, said: “We work behind the scenes and are very excited to see this event coming to Cyprus. I want to highlight the perfect alignment between FIDE, the Cyprus Chess Federation, and the sponsor, Freedom Holding Corp. We look forward to expanding this cooperation to our future projects.” The tournament will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Cyprus’ capital, Nicosia. Featuring 12 ballrooms and state-of-the-art technology meeting rooms, totalling 1,800 square meters of space for events, the venue is a very suitable option for both leisure and business visitors. Twelve players are invited to the fourth stage of the Women’s Grand Prix in Cyprus: Bibisara Assaubayeva, Nana Dzagnidze, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Harika Dronavalli, Alina Kashlinskaya, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno, Anna Muzychuk, Mariya Muzychuk, Polina Shuvalova, Tan Zhongyi, and Dinara Wagner. About Freedom Finance Europe Freedom Finance Europe, a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp., is a leading European stockbroker. The company’s Freedom24 web and mobile app investment platform provides traders with direct access to 15 global stock exchanges, including NYSE, Nasdaq, LSE, Euronext and others. Freedom Finance Europe is licensed by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with the right to cater clients from EU and EEA countries. The company is rated “B/B” by S&P Global Ratings. Headquartered in Limassol, the company has tied agents and representative offices in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Vienna, Warsaw, and Athens. More information: https://freedomfinance.eu