FIDE WGP: Dinara Wagner reigns in Cyprus
GM Kateryna Lagno and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina qualified for the Candidates. It’s not often that the lowest-rated player in the field takes down a tough event, but WGM Dinara Wagner fought against the odds in Cyprus and achieved the most important success in her career. In the last-round, must-win scenario, Wagner defeated GM Bella Khotenashvili with Black in one of the most exciting rounds of chess I have ever witnessed. In addition to winning the fourth leg of the 2022-2023 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix and the first prize of 15,000 euros, Wagner scored her second IM norm and her first GM norm. With her important last-round win over IM Oliwia Kiolbasa, IM Polina Shuvalova shared second to fourth place with former World Champion GM Tan Zhongyi (third) and GM Harika Dronavalli (fourth), taking second on tiebreaks. The first game to finish in a draw was Lagno vs Assaubayeva. Although they played more than thirty moves, it was all home preparation, and both players seemed content with the result. Soon after, Goryachkina and Harika also split the point: with this result, Harika secured a well-deserved spot at the top of the table, confirming once again that her poor result in Delhi was already forgotten. Goryachkina also had a good reason to draw: after a series of very unfortunate results, a draw secured her qualification for the Candidates. Mammadzada and Kosteniuk battled it out in a technical queenless French Tarrasch, but neither of the two was able to unbalance the position to her favour, and the draw became inevitable. Shuvalova caught her opponent in opening preparation, and once again, Kiolbasa spent a huge amount of time: soon, she was in time trouble. Shuvalova missed a win and soon found herself in a complicated position but eventually, Kiolbasa blundered under the pressure. 40.Qxh6+ forced resignation due to 40…gxh6 41.Rg1+ In the key game of the day, Wagner outplayed her opponent with a very dangerous kingside attack, finishing things off with a nice tactic. 34…Bg2! Many roads lead to Rome and it is one of them. Bella tried 35.f3 but capitulated after 35…Qf4+ as Black checkmates in seven. From then on, she just had to wait to see if Tan Zhongyi could take advantage of her extra material against Dzagnidze. After some ups and downs, one of the most exciting games of the event ended in a draw. FIDE WGP Cyprus final standings Regarding the overall scores of the full Grand Prix, the winner is GM Kateryna Lagno, followed closely by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. Both of these players qualify for the 2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament. Check out an interview with the overall winner of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-2023, Kateryna Lagno. FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-2023 final standings During the closing ceremony FIDE General Secretary Lukasz Turlej expressed his gratitude to the Cyprus Chess Federation and partners Freedom Finance for the invitation to dispute the event in Nicosia and for the great conditions, hotel, and playing venue. Evgeniy Tyapkin, Executive Director of Freedom Finance Europe, confirmed that they were committed to cultivating the framework, the competition and the excitement in their partnership with FIDE in Cyprus and across the world. Olga Milko, Director of Business Development at Freedom Finance Europe, reminded everyone about the equality of opportunities. “Chess develops many strategic skills at the same time. Scientific research confirms that there is no difference in intelligence between genders, and if all other things are equal, girls show even better results.” Finally, Criton Tornaritis, President of the Cyprus Chess Federation, took the stage, congratulated all the players, and expressed his wish to see everyone again next year and organize more events in the future. Text: IM Michael Rahal (Nicosia, Cyprus) Photos: Mark Livshitz 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://www.freedom24.com/
Igor Zaitsev celebrates his 85th birthday
Igor Zaitsev, a legendary analyst and pioneer of many trails in chess openings, has turned 85 today. His most valuable contribution to opening theory is, arguably, the so-called Zaitsev Variation. Indeed, Igor was first to realize that the rook could move back – over a half-century it had not occurred to the best players in the world – and then developed the most complicated systems that became one of the main lines in such a thoroughly analyzed opening as the Ruy Lopez. Another illustration of his creativity is brilliant 11.Ng5! – a true revelation, a touch of genius. How many other interesting ideas, shown to Karpov (with whom he worked for many years), remained unseen? That said, Zaitsev has always been a creative rather than a practical person. He generated the brightest ideas but was not cut out to play at the highest level. After becoming a GM, Zaitsev quickly switched to coaching and analytical work. Most and foremost, he relished the depth and beauty of chess. Since, with such an approach, it became increasingly difficult to keep it up in the computer age, Zaitsev withdrew from elite chess at the turn of the century. Still, he has constantly analyzed and had numerous publications. He even refuted computer analyses on many occasions in those blessed years when this was still possible. Zaitsev also composed poetry on the anniversaries of colleagues and friends and for his own pleasure, sharing a bit of his soul. Congratulating Igor on his 85th birthday, I want to thank him on behalf of many chess players and fans of our game for those special moments he gave us. Thank you, Igor, and be well! Emil Sutovsky, FIDE Chief Executive Officer