The elder of the two Muzychuk sisters took a huge step towards the title by scoring her third win in a row and now leads the Cyprus Women’s Grand Prix leg with only four rounds to go.
Trailing by only half a point is China’s Zhu Jiner, who held Alexandra Goryachkina – now in third place – to a draw. With her result in this event, Zhu Jiner has already overtaken Kateryna Lagno and Nana Dzagnidze in the live ratings and is now number eight in the world.
The other happy contender of the day was Germany’s Elizabeth Paehtz, who secured her first win in the event.
The players will enjoy a well-deserved rest day tomorrow. For those willing to catch a breath of fresh air and get their minds off the tournament for a while, the organisers have planned a special excursion to Lefkara Village, one of Cyprus’s most picturesque and historic locations: a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the scenic beauty and Cypriot hospitality.
Let’s take a closer look at the five games.
Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina 0.5-0.5
Leading a round-robin tournament, it always makes sense to keep rivals at bay, and that’s exactly what Zhu Jiner accomplished today. She opted for a safe line, which she had prepared at home, and achieved a quick draw.
Taking into consideration her time management, it seems that she had prepared practically the whole game in advance – on move eighteen, Zhu still had her initial starting time!
Goryachkina repeated 1.e4 e5 for the second time in the tournament. Zhu Jiner normally plays the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5) but she decided to mix things up and opted for the Italian Opening (3.Bc4).
Always well prepared, Goryachkina blitzed out her opening moves with Black, repeating the same type of aggressive setup she used in a 2021 game against elite GM Esipenko in the 74th Russian Championship.
The key moment of the game came on move twenty-two. Goryachkina faced two choices – accept a draw by move repetition or venture into a line that the computer assesses as good for her but which at the same time is quite risky from a human point of view.
On this occasion she decided to play it safe and go into the rest day undefeated: there are still four more rounds to go and anything can happen.
Elisabeth Paehtz – Harika Dronavalli 1-0
The second game to finish concealed an emotional backstory.
On the verge of her retirement from classical chess, 40-years-old Elizabeth Paehtz defeated Harika Dronavalli when the Indian GM confused her move order and blundered a pawn on move six.
After a few moves she was in deep trouble, not only on the board but also on the clock: on move fifteen the engine was already pointing to a clear +2 decisive advantage for Paehtz, which ultimately was more than enough to bring home the point.
“This is the first win against another woman in my last thirty games” exclaimed a happy very Elizabeth in the post-game press conference, at the same time confirming an open secret: this will be the last classical chess tournament for the German chess superstar. “I’m 40 years old now, and my energy levels aren’t what they used to be,” was Elizabeth’s reasoning.
Divya Deshmukh – Nana Dzagnidze 0.5-0.5
Divya used to play exclusively 1.e4, but in recent years she has expanded her repertoire to also include 1.d4 and occasionally 1.Nf3, whereas Dzagnidze has been playing the Nimzo-Indian Defence all her life.
In her preparations for her first classical game against her Georgian opponent, Divya went for a sharp line, following the steps of a previous 2019 Goryachkina-Dzagnidze WGP game.
But Nana was well-prepared and played the opening fast and comfortably, reaching a completely equal queenless middlegame. Certainly, White enjoyed an extra pawn but the opposite-coloured bishops signaled a draw, which was agreed on move forty-one.
The 99% accuracy score by both players indicates that the extra pawn had not real significance.
Stavroula Tsolakidou – Anna Muzychuk 0-1
For this important game, Anna brough back the symmetrical variation of the Semi-Tarrasch defence, a line which she has used successfully four or five times in the past, but that is not one of her main defences.
Around move ten, Anna decided to sacrifice a pawn on the queenside in exchange for active piece play – a brave decision which the engine applauds.
Even so, in her postgame interview Anna was surprised to see that she had enough compensation in some of the lines. “Both today’s game and also the two previous wins have been difficult games,” she explained. “When I sacrificed the pawn in the opening, I wasn’t sure that it was good, but now I see that the engine approves of the move.”
Indeed, her counterplay was so dangerous that Stavroula decided to give back the pawn and trade a few pieces, but she was unable to relieve the pressure completely.
When both players were under their last minute, errors started creeping in and Stavroula committed the fatal one.
Moment of the day
Muzychuk’s last move was 32…Rc8-c2, which doesn’t seem that dangerous but in fact hides a devious trap. The best continuation for White was either 33.Bd4 or 33.Qe1 and although Black is pressing, there is nothing concrete.
However, down to her last seconds, Stavroula blundered with 33.Qf2? and had to resign after 33…Rxb2!, winning a piece, as the d1-rook is hanging.
Olga Badelka – Mariya Muzychuk 0.5-0.5
A marathon game which ultimately finished in a draw after fifty-four moves.
In an attempt to side-step her opponent’s opening preparation, the younger of the two Muzychuk sisters brought back the Grunfeld defence, which used to be one of her favourite weapons with Black.
Without batting an eye, Badelka pushed her h-pawn forward with 3.h4 and the battle was on. Soon the game transposed into a King’s Indian structure and, after some thought, Badelka decided to trade queens and play a queenless middlegame, enjoying a small space advantage.
However, 20.Ng5? was a careless inaccuracy that might have allowed Mariya to claim an edge had she found 20…b5! with favourable complications. Instead, she quickly played 20…Nd7 letting her opponent off the hook.
After some more exchanges, the simplified position seemed quite equal, although Mariya had a nagging pressure due to her superior minor piece. Badelka navigated her way to a pure rook ending and the game was drawn.
Round six pairings and dates
The players will enjoy a rest day tomorrow. Therefore, the sixth round of the fourth leg in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series will be played on Friday, March 21st at 15:00 CET local time in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Round 6 pairings:
Nana Dzagnidze – Harika Dronavalli
Mariya Muzychuk – Elisabeth Paehtz
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Olga Badelka
Anna Muzychuk – Zhu Jiner
Divya Deshmukh – Stavroula Tsolakidou
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: womengrandprix.fide.com
You can follow the games live and watch the action with our wonderful commentators GM Alik Gershon and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich on YouTube.
Written by Michael Rahal
Photos: Mark Livshitz
