The shortest round of the tournament featured three decisive results and the emergence of a new leader. In a surprising turn of events, Olga Badelka defeated Anna Muzychuk in a spectacular attacking game, allowing Zhu Jiner to claim the top spot with her victory over Divya Deshmukh. Nana Dzagnidze also returned to a positive score, taking down Stavroula Tsolakidou with the black pieces.
The ceremonial first move was made in the game between Zhu Jiner and Divya Deshmukh. Former Women’s World Champion and current FIDE Treasurer, Zhu Chen, played the first move for Zhu Jiner, while FIDE Vice-President Joran Aulin Jansson did the honors for Divya.
Let’s take a closer look at the five games.
Elisabeth Paehtz – Aleksandra Goryachkina (0.5-0.5)
Although players cannot agree to a draw before move forty, they can bypass this rule in the case of a threefold repetition—exactly what happened in the first game to finish this afternoon.
Both Elisabeth and Aleksandra ended the game with more time than they had at the start, indicating they were content with an eleven-move draw.
Harika Dronavalli – Mariya Muzychuk (0.5-0.5)
The second game to finish also ended in a draw but in this case it was hard-fought. Muzychuk brought a rather new move (7…c4) in the London opening to the table, achieving a very solid position.
After he exchange of queens there was not much to play for in the ending, and a threefold repetition on move twenty-eight sealed the result.
Both players achieved a 99% accuracy score – a testament to the high-level displayed in the encounter.
Olga Badelka – Anna Muzychuk (1-0)
The upset of the day! Refreshed from the village outing on the free day, Olga Badelka seems to be having the time of her life.
After holding Goryachkina to a draw yesterday, today Olga played a game for the ages, defeating leader Anna Muzychuk with a ferocious attack in the Colle-Zukertort.
“It’s better to win late than never,” were her first words in the postgame interview.
I had a very well-needed rest on the free day with the mountain excursion to the village, and I am still trying to find my focus,” continued Olga.
The key moment of the game occurred on move fifteen.
Moment of the day
Muzychuk has just played 14…Ne4 intending to exchange the knights after 15.cxd5 Nxd2. However, Badelka is not forced to recapture, and instead she spotted a nice intermezzo 16.dxe6! with a massive attack that ultimately proved decisive.
When asked about Muzychuk’s blunder 14…Ne4, Badelka responded: “Maybe she wasn’t happy with the outcome of the opening: she had already spent half an hour and maybe she wanted to simplify things quickly, but it wasn’t to be.”
Zhu Jiner – Divya Deshmukh (1-0)
Shortly after Badelka had won her game, Zhu Jiner confirmed her excellent moment of form in the tournament by defeating Divya Deshmukh in great style.
Divya opted for her signature French defence against which Zhu Jiner chose the Steinitz variation with an early 10.dxc5. Divya took some time to respond and soon ended up in a difficult position. However, according to the engine, she could have turned the tables with the tricky 21…e5 instead of 21…b3? after which Zhu Jiner didn’t give her a second chance.
“I just tried to focus on myself and try my best to play. I didn’t see too much about the other results” explained Zhu Jiner in her post-game interview.
During the interview, Zhu Jiner showed us how she would have been forced to use an underpromotion to a knight to win the game if Divya hadn’t resigned.
Stavroula Tsolakidou – Nana Dzagnidze (0-1)
The final game to finish saw a completely recovered Nana Dzagnidze defeate Stavroula Tsolakidou with the black pieces.
Stavroula essayed a secondary line against Dzagnidze’s trusted Sicilian Taimanov which promises a very chaotic position with attacking chances for both sides.
However, it seemed that Dzagnidze was very comfortable in the complications – an unlucky choice for Stavroula who never found her moment in the game.
According to the engine, sacrificing the exchange with 18.Bf2 didn’t offer enough compensation and the follow-up was just not enough to trouble Dzagnidze’s relatively safe king.
The Georgian GM wrapped up the game with ease, happy to have left behind yesterday’s blunder against Harika.
Round 8 dates and pairings:
The eighth round of the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series will be played on Sunday, March 23rd at 15:00 CET local time in Nicosia, Cyprus. These are the pairings of the round:
Nana Dzagnidze – Mariya Muzychuk
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Harika Dronavalli
Anna Muzychuk – Elisabeth Paehtz
Divya Deshmukh – Olga Badelka
Stavroula Tsolakidou – Zhu Jiner
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
