With just one round remaining at the Women's Grand Prix in Tbilisi, two players are now tied for first place: Alina Kashlinskaya, who won, and Bibisara Assaubayeva, who drew her game. The day was marked by missed opportunities across the boards, indicating fatigue among the players

The day witnessed dramatic swings in all games, as players struggled with the pressure and fatigue after eight intense rounds. Notably, this was only the second round in the entire tournament where more games ended with decisive results instead of draws.

Alina Kashlinskaya emerged as the biggest winner of the round, tying for first place following her victory against Georgia's Lela Javakhishvili in the Nimzo-Indian. It was the longest game of the round, finishing in just over five hours. Despite faltering in the middlegame and losing her advantage, Kashlinskaya managed to break through and win. With this victory, Kashlinskaya now has five points, while Javakhishvili remains on three.

Bibisara Assaubayeva, who led the tournament after round seven, squandered a completely winning position against Stavroula Tsolakidou, missing an opportunity to extend her lead over the field. In the English Opening, things started well for Bibisara, but she misplayed and allowed Black to seize the initiative.

Then, after Tsolakidou's mistake, the tables turned completely, putting Bibisara in a winning position. However, with one misstep, Assaubayeva threw away the victory and had to fight for a draw. A big miss for Bibisara (now on five points) and a fortunate break for Tsolakidou, who is now on 4.5 points.

Anna Muzychuk defeated Sara Khadem in the Giuoco Piano. This was the first game of the round to finish. Khadem held a solid position until the middlegame, when she pursued a faulty plan and underestimated back-rank threats, ending up losing. With this victory, Anna Muzychuk moved to 4.5 points, while Khadem remains on 2.5.

In the Scotch Game, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk exchanged mistakes throughout. Despite having several completely winning positions, Mariya Muzychuk let them slip, resulting in a draw. In the post-game interview, Mariya Muzychuk (now on 4.5 points) mentioned that she felt she had the upper hand but that fatigue was taking its toll. Alexandra Kosteniuk (on three points) left the venue quickly after the game, visibly exhausted.

Nana Dzagnidze lost to Vaishali Rameshbabu in a sharp encounter. Despite achieving a strong initiative in the King's Indian, Dzagnidze overextended and ended up losing. This defeat dashed Dzagnidze's hopes of reaching the top spots, as she remains on four points. With 3.5 points, Vaishali has climbed up from the bottom of the leaderboard.

Standings after Round 8

Saturday, August 24, marks the final round and the last chance for players to improve their standings. With two players tied for first place and three players just half a point behind, the final day promises excitement and surprises.

The games will begin at 1 PM local time in Tbilisi, with the closing ceremony and the announcement of the winner scheduled for 8 PM.

Here follows a closer look at the games of round eight:

Alexandra Kosteniuk - Mariya Muzychuk

In the Scotch Game, Kosteniuk was facing challenges early in the opening after playing a rare line starting 9. Nd2. The opponents traded inaccuracies transitioning from the opening to the middlegame but it was Black, who eventually emerged clearly better. However, Mariya did not find the best continuation at the first critical moment of the game.

27…Nb3? Black's main idea is to play c6-c5 and 27…Ne4 served this purpose. The point is that 28.f3 fails to 28…Nxg3 29. Kxg3 c5! Black regains the piece and gets an overwhelming position as White's king is very weak.  

After 28.Nxb3 Rxb3 29.Bd4 White was holding, but not for long. After exchanging a couple of mistakes the two transitioned to an even rook endgame, with Black having an extra pawn. Kosteniuk made another mistake after which she was lost.

Black has just played 42…c6? (instead of 42…Ke6, winning)  and threw a lifeline to White. Alexandra, however, opted for  43.g5?? 43.f5 or 43.Rb4 were holding moves. Now, with this move, Kosteniuk allowed Black a chance to reactivate the king and central pawns and get the upper hand again. But it was not the end of the story as Mariya was the last to err in this topsy-turvy game.

47…Kg7?? Instead of playing actively and supporting the progress of her central pawns with 47...Ke5, Black put her king on the defense. After 48.Kxg5, Kosteniuk created a passer on the h-file, and the position became even.

The struggle continued, but neither side made any significant errors afterward, and a draw was agreed upon at move 64.

Alina Kashlinskaya - Lela Javakhishvili

Alina Kashlinskaya obtained a notably better position against Lela Javakhishvili in the Nimzo-Indian. White made a push in the center, but Black did not respond correctly, giving the opponent an advantage.

White has control over the center, a pair of bishops and better chances to organize an attack. Alina did not hesitate to break through in the center.

17.d5! exd5 18.e5! Ne4 19.Bd2 Nxg4 20.hxg3 d4 White is now significantly better and Black needs to find ways to block off the bishops.

But Kashlinskaya was slow in her attack and soon lost her advantage. Despite Black not choosing the best moves, White missed her chances. After the exchange of heavy pieces, including queens, the position was about even, but White still had the initiative.

29.e6 fxe6?? A blunder, after which Black loses an exchange. She should have captured with the knight with a defendable position.

30.Bxd4! cxd4 31.Bxe6+ Rxe6 32.Rxe6 d3 33.Rd6 Be4 34.Rd7.

Save for a slight inaccuracy on move 40, Alina gradually improved her position and converted an extra exchange into a full point.

Anna Muzychuk - Sarasadat Khademalsharieh

In the Giuoco Piano the position was mostly equal until well into the middlegame when Sara Khadem made an error.

The position is about equal. Both sides have completed their development and have active pieces. Black has more control over the center but a weaker pawn structure. However, Khadem made a mistake 21…Nfh5?

Continuing to press on the queenside with 21…a3 was considered by the chess engine as the best option. Instead, with this move, White got a chance to take the initiative and soon achieved a better pawn structure and alignment of pieces. To make things even worse for Black, Sarasadat opted for a pseudo-active plan of doubling her heavy pieces along the second rank, which was a step to the abyss.

With 35…Qa2? Khadem finally executed her plan but after 36.Rd8 Kh7 37.h4 Qb2 38.h5 Black has no way to save her knight and she resigned.

Nana Dzagnidze - Vaishali Rameshbabu

The two entered a double-edged line in the King's Indian. Again, as in the previous rounds – Nana was determined to play interesting and sharp positions. In the subsequent play, Dzagnidze did a much better job and engineered an attack against Vaishali's king, but her final execution was poor.

Here, White should have sought to gradually improve her position with moves such as 27.b3. Instead, Nana decided to take the bishop on g7, prematurely relieving the tension.

Things quickly simplified from then on, leading to an even game. But then Nana continued misplaying and even ended up in a lost position.

White is in trouble, but she had a chance to hold her ground after 35.b3 with the idea to keep her king in the center where he could help to contain the h-passer. Instead, Nana played 35.Ng4? and after 35…Qh1+ 36.Ke2 Nh5? (missing 36…Qh2+ followed by an exchange of queens and with an h-pawn push down the file) 37.Kg2? h3! Black was winning as her h-pawn would cost White a piece.

As in the game against Anna Muzychuk, Nana pinned her hopes on finding a perpetual check with the queen, but it didn't work.

Bibisara Assaubayeva - Stavroula Tsolakidou

Bibisara Assaubayeva played the English Opening against Stavroula Tsolakidou, and obtained a very promising position but soon things started to go wrong for her as the Greek obtained a dangerous intitiative on the kingside.

White has a slightly better position, thanks to a more active queen and greater control over the center, but  Bibisara erred with 17.Nf1? An illogical move: taking the knight back to the first rank and, at the same time, putting her king in a squeeze.

After 17…Nh3+ 18.Kg2 Nf5 19.f3 Nd4 20.Qd1 Be6 21.Nf5? Black got a notably better position.

As the game progressed Stavroula pushed too hard sacrificing a couple of pawns and then went for a wrong combination.

White is pushed to the bottom two ranks, but her pieces still hold the critical points and she has two extra pawns.

30…Qe6?? A blunder. Black had to play 30…g5 here and hope to hold.

A few moves down the line, Bibisara flopped and let all her advantage slip away.

41.Qg2 neutralizes Black's threats and keeps White ahead. Instead, Bibisara played 41.Kg1??

Not only did she give up a piece, but she exposed her king to imminent danger.

41…Rxh3 42.Nf5! Rh2 43.Rb7 Qg6 44.f4 Now White is about to give up her queen. 44…Qh5 45.fxe5 Rh1+ 46.Kf2 Rxf1+ 47.Rxf1 Qh2+ 48.Ke1 and it's even. The opponents split a point ten moves later after Black delivered perpetual.

Round nine starts on Saturday, August 24, at 1 PM local time in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The Closing Ceremony of the first leg of the 2024/2025 Women's Grand Prix will take place at 8 PM.

Round 9 pairings:

Stavroula Tsolakidou - Alexandra Kosteniuk
Vaishali Rameshbabu - Bibisara Assaubayeva
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh - Nana Dzagnidze
Lela Javakhishvili - Anna Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk - Alina Kashlinskaya

For more information about the event, including news, images, regulations, pairings, and games, please womengrandprix.fide.com/

Written by Milan Dinic

Photos: Anna Shtourman