Nine decisive outcomes in fifteen games is a testament to the fighting spirit on display in the Women’s Grand Prix, here in the Amanora The Fern Hotel complex in Pune.
Spectators that attended the playing venue this afternoon to watch the games and catch a photo with their favourite player were in for a treat: no fewer than three games ended decisively.
The ceremonial first moves were performed by Dr. Praniti Tilak, Trustee of the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth University, who opened the game for Nurgyul Salimova, and Mr. Ashwin Trimal, Vice President of the Pune District Chess Association. The owner of the Amanora Group, Mr. Aniruddha Deshpande, also took part.
With today’s results, one of tomorrow’s Round 4 matchups should be especially exciting. While all the games have their charm, Shuvalova vs. Humpy will be the one to follow closely. Polina will be eager exert pressure with the white pieces and aim for her second victory, while Humpy will keep pushing to accumulate points in the event.
Let’s take a closer look at this afternoon’s games.
Alina Kashlinskaya 0 – 1 Munguntuul Batkhuyag
The first game to finish ended in spectacular style. Mongolia’s number one female player Munguntuul Batkhuyag took down Poland’s Alina Kashlinskaya in a complicated, opposite-side castled attacking game.
As Munguntuul explained in her post-game interview, she tried out a new opening, which neither of the two had played before, including a pawn sacrifice to open up some files against her opponent’s king.
Alina didn’t react in the best way and soon her king was in trouble, besieged by her opponent’s heavy pieces.
In this position, Munguntuul went in for the kill. She swapped off both White’s knights with 30…Bxf3 31.gxf3 Bxd4 32.exd4 and then finished off with 32….Rxb3+ 33.Kc2 and the fantastic 33…Qc7+! 34.Kxb3 Rb8! after which Kashlinskaya resigned facing checkmate along the a-file.
After the game, Munguntuul went through her thought process with Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, noting that “Maybe the late call to play here hasn’t allowed Alina to prepare properly.”
Vaishali Rameshbabu 0.5 – 0.5 Polina Shuvalova
Against Shuvalova’s Two Knights Defence, Vaishali went for a line that is theoretically considered harmless and even slightly worse for White. However, engine opening analysis has advanced a lot and we keep getting new information.
Perhaps still affected by her defeat yesterday, the Indian player did not want to take any risks and, even though Vaishali achieved a slight advantage in terms of pawn structure, she never had any real chances of winning.
At the end, Shuvalova simplified into a rook ending, with three pawns against two on the same side of the board, which was declared a draw on move sixty-three. Both players hit an unbelievable 99% accuracy performance: a high-level game!
Humpy Koneru 1 – 0 Divya Deshmukh
Having started the tournament with two solid draws with Black, the current Rapid World Champion was keen to display her strength with the white pieces. Her opponent, Divya, leading the event, had more time to spend on her preparation, after defeating Vaishali yesterday in the opening.
In a fashionable English opening, Humpy tried out an interesting idea based on a quick h4-h5. Surprised, Divya spent twelve minutes on her reply and soon fell into time trouble.
As she mentioned after the game, Humpy gained the upper hand due to her opponent’s weakened king, to the point that the exchange of queens was the best option for Divya to hold.
But then Humpy brought out her best endgame technique, and displayed the full power of the bishop pair in the late middlegame and endgame, weaving a mating net and finishing the game in style.
Check out her post-game interview on Youtube in which she outlines the road to victory.
Nurgyul Salimova 0 – 1 Harika Dronavalli
While I was interviewing Humpy, I lost track of the other interesting game of the day, in which Harika was pushing in the Catalan with Black. And, in fact, the game was decided at the same time.
As fortune would have it, Harika was interviewed on the live stream and gave her thoughts on the full game. You can check it out on the following link, starting on 5h 38 minutes.
Salimova misplayed the opening – 16.Qxc4 was equal while 16.Rc1 drops a pawn and then 19.e4 instead of 19.Bxc5 was much better – and suddenly Harika had some clear chances to get out of the hole and score her first win.
The Indian certainly could have finished the job sooner – the engine suggests 47…Qe1 with a decisive advantage instead of 47…Qd4 – but she kept her cool and eventually prevailed in the ending.
Zhu Jiner 0.5 – 0.5 Salome Melia
The final game to finish was also the most solid of all of them. With the draw, Zhu Jiner maintains her lead while Salome picked up a well-deserved half point with Black.
Salome essayed the Sicilian and Zhu Jiner opted for the Rossolimo Attack, very trendy these days. Around move fifteen it seemed that Zhu Jiner had lost track and Salome started to improve the placement of her pieces: things were looking very bright for her.
However, Zhu Jiner kept the game going, traded some pieces and liquidated into a rook ending. The final piece was agreed on move seventy-six.
Round 4 pairings
The fourth round of the fifth leg in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Thursday, April 17 at 15:00 CET local time in Pune, India.
Salome Melia – Divya Deshmukh
Polina Shuvalova – Humpy Koneru
Harika Dronavalli – Vaishali Rameshbabu
Munguntuul Batkhuyag – Nurgyul Salimova
Zhu Jiner – Alina Kashlinskaya
More information about the event, including the regulations and details of the pairings, as well as live games can be found on the official website.
You can follow the games with expert commentary on FIDE’s YouTube channel.
Written by IM Michael Rahal
Photos: Abhilash Shinde
