It couldn’t have been scripted better. Three inconsequential games ended quite fast, leaving the two main actors battling it out on the top boards, right until the final moments of the round.
After a very stressful afternoon for everyone, Indian number one Humpy Koneru claimed victory in the Pune Women’s Grand Prix, edging out Chinese prodigy Zhu Jiner in the tiebreak. Both of them won their final games, totalling seven points apiece. Third place goes to Divya Deshmukh, who drew with Alina Kashlinskaya in their last-round game.
Humpy recognized that luck had played a big part in her victory: “I haven’t been doing very well lately in classical chess, but here I have recovered my rating points and with the exception of yesterday’s game against Kashlinskaya, I think I have played quite well”.
Both Zhu Jiner and Humpy will share the WGP points – they receive 117.5 each. For Humpy this will probably not be enough to contend for the second candidates spot, but Zhu Jiner will have another chance at qualifying for the Candidates in the final leg of the series, to be played in Großlobming, Austria, from the 5th to the 16th of May.
With these results, Alexandra Goryachkina leads the WGP with 308.34 points (three events played), followed by Humpy Koneru with 279.17 points (three events played) and Zhu Jiner with 235 points (two events played). Anna Muzychuk is just behind with 189.17 points and has also only played two events.
Let’s take a closer look at this afternoon’s games.
Humpy Koneru 1 – 0 Nurgyul Salimova
The ceremonial first moves were performed today on this board. Dr. ParinayFuke, Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council as well as President of the Maharashtra Chess Association opened the game for Humpy, while Mr. Aravind Shah, an Indian Businessman and chess enthusiast played Salimova’s first move.
Humpy opted for the Exchange variation in the Slav defence, a solid option that generally provides a risk-free approach with some pressure: ideal for the final round tournament situation.
After a couple of small inaccuracies, especially the manoeuvre 15…Qa5 followed by 17…Qd8 two moves later, Salimova fell into a slightly uncomfortable position, unable to castle and facing intense pressure from Humpy’s minor pieces.
The defining blunder, after which there was no way back for Salimova, occurred on move 18.
Black should have played 18…Bf8 and try to exchange a few pieces, but after 18…Bd6? Humpy played the precise 19.e4!, opening up the e-file and creating direct threats against her opponent’s king.
Salimova managed to defend, but at a big cost: a totally lost endgame, two pawns in the hole. Although she fought gallantly, resignation became forced after eight-four moves.
Polina Shuvalova 0–1 Zhu Jiner
Needing to win to overtake Divya, Shuvalova went for the classical Italian Giuoco Piano. The game progressed adequately for both players, positioning their pieces for the optimal squares.
The first key moment was Shuvalova’s 19.h4, a risky move planning an attack but loosening the g4 square, which was immediately occupied by Zhu’s knight.
A few moves later, already under certain pressure, Shuvalova blundered again with 30.Re3? (30…Qc3 was necessary) and faced a devastating change in her position after after 30….Bxf3 31.gxf3 d5!! blasting open the position for Black’s pieces.
In the tactical scramble that followed, the Chinese GM emerged with an extra pawn and much more piece activity. And then this happened!
With her rook on c8 under attack, Zhu Jiner found the unbelievable 42…Nd5!!, threatening mate on e3. Of course, the knight can’t be captured because after 43.Rxd5 Rc1 ends the game.
But Shuvalova found the incredible counter 43.Re7! and all the pieces are under fire. After 43…Nxe7 44.Bxc8 Nxc8 45.Rd8+ Kh7 46.Rxc8 Rb2 Zhu Jiner had a pawn up in the ending and two passers, which she eventually converted after seventy-six moves.
Vaishali Rameshbabu 0.5–0.5 Salome Melia
Vaishali tried out the Colle-Zukertort opening, an interesting option to play for a win. However, Salome came to the game with excellent preparation and totally nullified Vaishali’s kingside attack.
With the very astute exchange 18…dxc4 19.bxc4 and 19…b5! Salome began to prepare a light-square domination that led her to a fantastic position.
But just when she was starting to get traction, and with more time on the clock, Melia acquiesced to a three-fold repetition. A lost opportunity?
Vaishali ends the tournament with a -1 score and drops nearly ten rating points – for sure she won’t be at all happy with her performance in Pune. For Salome, the event has gone better than expected: a five rating points addition, for the theoretically lowest seed of the tournament.
Harika Dronavalli 0.5–0.5 Munguntuul Batkhuyag
With little to play for, motivation to fight is always slightly lower. Even so, Harika and Munguntuul played out forty moves to reach a completely equal double rook ending, eventually agreeing to a draw.
Both clocked in a 97.9 accuracy score, with no mistakes and no blunders – another perfect game.
Harika finished on 50%, performing slightly below expectation while Munguntuul has scored fewer points (3) but her performance related to her rating better.
Divya Deshmukh 0.5–0.5 Alina Kashlinskaya
Another perfect game with no mistakes at all. Kashlinskaya essayed the French defence and Divya played the Tarrasch variation. Although Divya applied a bit of pressure, Alina forced simplifications that led to an equal endgame. A draw was agreed on move forty-two.
A very good tournament for the Indian prodigy, with a rating increase of nine points. For Kashlinskaya, it was a tournament to forget as soon as possible – she has lost 20 rating points and has been struggling to find her form here.
The closing ceremony of the Pune WGP began at 8.30 PM with a minute of silence for the tragedy in Kashmir. The master of ceremonies thanked everyone for coming along, and highlighted the record in numbers following the event: more than 5 million views. He also put special attention on the high number of decisive games.
The first guest, Siddharth Mayur, Wook the floor and gave a small speech. “Humpy’s win is an inspiration for us, and we are looking forward to more women players fighting for the world title”.
There followed a short tournament highlights video. Then the chief arbiter Ivan Syrovy took the stage and gave his tournament report.
GM Kunte awarded the third place trophy to Divya Deshmukh, Aniruddha Deshpande awarded the second prize to Zhu Jiner and finally Dr.Parinay Fuke, President of the MCA, awarded the first prize to Humpy Koneru, who gave a small speech thanking the organization, the sponsors, the venue, all the chess fans supporters who inspire more youngsters to pick up chess.”
Dr. Parinay Fuke gave his speech: He highlighted the commitment to support young talents from the Maharastra state, the new momentum and respect for chess, the chess in school projects which prepare sharp minds for the future.”
The closing speech by tournament director and MCA secretary Niranjan Godbole followed by a group picture with the rest of the participants and dignitaries.
The gala ended with the rendition of the FIDE and India anthems.
Written by IM Michael Rahal
Photos: Abhilash Shinde
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.
