After being around for many years, I have come to realize that elite chess players possess two principal qualities: the capacity to fight till the end in lost positions and the capability to recover fast from a painful loss.
This afternoon, without any doubt the most interesting round of all the WGP’s that I have attended, Humpy was on the verge of losing several times against Kashlinskaya, who hadn’t won a game so far. But she kept fighting, defending as best as possible, and she finally reaped the reward – a draw, keeping her options to win in Pune open.
On the other board, Zhu Jiner played an impressive game against Divya, after losing yesterday to Humpy. Her recovery was uncanny – from losing the lead and even the chance to win, to a situation in which she is tied for first with one game to go.
No less than three ceremonial first moves were performed today, on different boards and with the white pieces. Mr. Ajay Patel, Senior Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association opened the game for Salome Melia, Mr. Dev Patel, Secretary of the All Indian Chess Federation opened for Munguntuul and finally Dr. Ravindra Dange, Commisioner of the Pune IRS opened for Zhu Jiner.
The final round will be played tomorrow afternoon. The key pairings are Humpy vs Salimova and Shuvalova vs Zhu Jiner. Anything can happen, and we will be here to report it!
Let’s take a closer look at this afternoon’s games.
Zhu Jiner 1 –0 Divya Deshmukh
Zhu Jiner prepared the Four Knights Glek system with 4.g3. For many moves, they followed a recent 2024 game between Abdusattorov and Giri.
After the opening, Black’s bishop was stranded out of the game on a6 and White also controlled the fantastic e4 square, but Divya was preparing a strong attack on the kingside.
After a couple of inaccuracies, Zhu sacrificed a piece for three pawns with 26.Nxe5!, entering a totally winning ending. Divya was forced to give back the piece in order to avoid white pawn’s promotion, but to no avail: with a 96% accuracy score, took the game home.
“I feel happy today, especially since I lost yesterday” were Zhu’s first words in her post-game interview. Check it out here!
Alina Kashlinskaya 0.5 – 0.5 HumpyKoneru
The Polish number one player missed out on an opportunity to win her first game this afternoon, and at the same time take down the leader of the event.
The opening was a classic 5.d3 Anderssen variation of the Ruy Lopez. Alina obtained a small edge in space going out of the opening, but Humpy very near equality.
At a certain point, Humpy started to play hesitantly (first 16…c6? and then 19…Ra7?) and ended up in a passive position with very little space. Alina gradually took control, installing a huge knight on d6. She achieved a decisive advantage and also Humpy was very low on time.
Kashlinskaya forced the exchange of queen’s, went into a totally winning endgame, and then this occurred.
White’s position is won very easily with 49.Rd-d5, defending everything, and Alina was about to play this move but changed her mind and chose 49.Rb7? a blunder that cost her the win. Humpy exchanged rooks and played 50…Nc5, picking up the pawn on b7, and a draw was agreed a few moves later.
Even though she was visibly frustrated, Kashlinskaya came to the media center to give us her thoughts on what had happened. A true professional.
Nurgyul Salimova 0.5–0.5 Vaishali Rameshbabu
The game began as a Triangle Slav opening. With 7.b3!? (essentially a novelty in the position), Salimova sacrificed a pawn for a lead in development and control over the center.
She had excellent positional compensation in the middlegame: the bishop pair and optimal squares for her pieces. However, with 29.Qe1?? she missed a tactic and after 29…Nd3! Black was already better.
A few moves later Vaishali sacrificed her rook for a decisive advantage, but in acute time trouble she couldn’t find the way to win and ended up forcing a perpetual check.
Salome Melia 0.5 –0.5 Harika Dronavalli
The first game to cross 100 moves in the Grand Prix – a testament to the fighting spirit of the players.
The game saw the Duras variation of Ruy Lopez (5.d3 + 6.c4).They followed a 2018 Tiviakov vs Ernst game for many moves, although Harika spent more time in the opening, maybe slightly surprised.
With her move 14.0-0, Salome sacrificed a pawn for the attack and better development, and rightly so: her opponent’s castled king was very weak.
At the key moment, however, Salome went for 27.e6?, which looks good but is not the best move (27.Qh4 keeps up the attack), and suddenly it was Black playing for the win.
However, in heavy time trouble, with both players under two minutes, the game evened out and a draw was agreed after 116 moves.
Check out Salome Melia’s postgame interview:
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 0.5 – 0.5 Polina Shuvalova
Munguntuul went for the 6.Be3 + 7.Nf3 Najdorf English attack, following the game Naiditsch vs Moussard of 2022. The fight for the d5 square was the key idea in the opening, but Shuvalova played excellently and ended up with a very comfortable position going into the middlegame, with double time on the clock.
Shuvalova steadily increased her positional advantage and won a pawn in a tactical skirmish just before move number forty, profiting from Munguntuul’s time trouble. But despite Polina’s best effort, she was unable to break down her opponent’s defences, and a draw was agreed on move ninety-one.
Round nine dates and pairings
The ninth and final round of the fifth leg of the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series will take place on Wednesday, April 23, 14:00 CET local time in Pune, India, one full hour before the usual time.
These are the pairings:
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Salome Melia
Humpy Koneru – NurgyulSalimova
Divya Deshmukh – AlinaKashlinskaya
Polina Shuvalova – Zhu Jiner
Harika Dronavalli – Munguntuul Batkhuyag
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
