What a round! Excitement until the end, two decisive outcomes which have completely turned around the tournament standings, and just to top it all off—a rook and bishop vs. queen positional fortress.
In a fantastic positional game, Humpy Koneru, India’s best female player in history, defeated Zhu Jiner and now leads the WGP with only two rounds to go. With games still remaining against Kashlinskaya and Salimova, it’s too early to celebrate—but she couldn’t have asked for a better situation.
Meanwhile, with her crushing win over Muntunguul, Divya closed in and will have a shot for the top spot if she can to defeat Zhu Jiner in tomorrow’s game.
The other three games ended in draws but not without multiple ups-and-downs. Vaishali and Alina got involved in a tactical melee in time trouble, Salimova did her best to grind down a win against a weak d-pawn without success, while Polina and Harika played a perfect 98% accuracy game.
Let’s take a closer look at this afternoon’s games.
Humpy Koneru 1 – 0 Zhu Jiner
The ceremonial first move was performed by Mr.Harnish Raja, a prominent businessman from Pune and father of GM Harshit Raja. He played 1.c4 after Humpy indicated the move in her key game against Zhu Jiner. However, Humpy subsequently took back the pawn and opened with 1.d4!
This amazing clash of styles was definitely the game of the day, and possibly even of the tournament. Trailing Zhu Jiner by half a point and playing with the white pieces, Humpy’s game plan was quite clear: solid chess, aim for a small opening advantage, and try to grind her down.
Humpy was surprised in the opening: “Today she completely surprised me with the Queen’s Indian and I think I misplayed the opening with 12.Bf4 – I should have probably played 12.Rc2 and get the bishop to c1 directly.”
But she pushed forward, slowly increasing her positional advantage – a totally different game than the one she played yesterday with Black. By dominating the c-file, she eventually claimed control of the c6 square and landed her knight there.
Under heavy pressure, Zhu Jiner crumbled and blundered a piece in a long tactical sequence. With regard to her tournament and Grand Prix situation, Humpy didn’t want to get ahead of herself: “I just play my game and whatever happens, happens,” she said after the game.
Once again, Humpy joined us in the press centre to explain her thoughts during the game. A must-watch video!
Divya Deshmukh 1 – 0 Munguntuul Batkhuyag
Divya scored a crushing win over Munguntuul in the quiet 4.e3 variation against the Slav. She followed up with the trendy 6.Nh4 line, aiming to get an open position with opposite-side castled kings plus the bishop pair.
According to my database, Munguntuul’s 13…Rc8 (played after seven minutes of thinking time) is too slow – 13…a6 is the preferred move by GMs, with many elite games played in this line.
Divya immediately launched a pawn storm on the kingside, combined with a second pawn front in the centre, pouncing on Munguntuul’s king. Things were looking very bleak for the number one female player from Mongolia at that point.
Moment of the day
Despite her knight being under attack, Divya went for the amazing 20.h6! sacrificing a full piece. Engines already suggest that the position is completely winning for White. Additionally, Munguntuul was running low on time, in a very difficult position to defend.
There was no escape for Black – Divya played the best moves in the position, notched up the win, and joined Press Officer Michael Rahal in the media center for an interesting post-game interview, in which she discussed the main ideas of the game and speculated on tomorrow’s decisive match-up.
“My score with Zhu Jiner is not that good, the last two games I have lost, but there is always time to turn it around,” Divya finished her interview on a positive note.
Vaishali Rameshbabu 0.5 – 0.5 Alina Kashlinskaya
While Divya played the aggressive 6.Nh4 line in the Slav defence, her Olympic team colleague Vaishali preferred something a bit slower, albeit very solid setup, based on a quick exchange of light-squared bishops.
Going into the middlegame, Vaishali started pushing on the queenside and Kashlinskaya counterattacked in the centre. For more than fifteen moves they followed a 2009 game between GM’s Ilincic and Balogh, which ended in a draw.
Around move twenty, although the position was symmetrical and with total equality, Vaishali started to get into serious time-trouble. Kashlinskaya sacrificed a pawn for great compensation and approaching the time control won in her opponent’s queen in exchange for a rook, a bishop and a pawn.
Although the game went on for quite a few moves, the final result was very clear as White built an unbreakable fortress.
Polina Shuvalova 0.5 – 0.5 Harika Dronavalli
For this important game, Harika chose the ultra-solid Petroff defence. As usual, Shuvalova came to the game with excellent opening preparation, based on a couple of 2023 GM games.
With a timely positional pawn sacrifice, Harika took control over the light squares, trade of major pieces and secured a comfortable draw in an opposite-side coloured bishop ending.
Nurgyul Salimova 0.5 – 0.5 Salome Melia
This was a high-quality game by both players, with both clocking an impressive 97.6% accuracy. Salimova had the upper hand most of the game, basically because of a constant pressure on her opponent’s isolated d-pawn.
However, despite Nurgyul’s efforts, Salome’s accurate defense forced the Bulgarian to admit the equality on the position. The game was drawn on move fifty-seven.
Round eight dates and pairings
The eighth round of the fifth leg of the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series will take place on Tuesday, April 22, at 15:00 CET local time in Pune, India.
These are the pairings:
Nurgyul Salimova – Salome Melia
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Alina Kashlinskaya
Humpy Koneru – Zhu Jiner
Divya Deshmukh – Munguntuul Batkhuyag
Polina Shuvalova – Harika Dronavalli
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
