FIDE WGP Austria:A hat-trick for Zhu Jiner after stunning Vaishali Rameshbabu
Zhu Jiner scores her third straight win. Muzychuk holds lead despite missed chance. Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova clinches her first victory, stunning Alexandra Kosteniuk in just 25 moves. Round five marked the halfway point of the final tournament in the 2024/2025 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. Anna Muzychuk remains in sole lead on 4/5, despite missing a chance with the black pieces against Tan Zhongyi. Zhu Jiner caught up with Vaishali Rameshbabu on 3/5 after a sharp victory, while Nana Dzagnidze also joined the tie for second following a draw with Mariya Muzychuk. Lela Javakhishvili outplayed Olga Badelka and now shares 2.5 points with Tan. Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova fought back from a weaker position against Kosteniuk to score her first victory. Both now sit on 1.5/5. After four days of rain and overcast skies, the sun finally broke through over the Austrian highlands surrounding G’Schlössl Murtal. The usual silence of the chess hall was broken by the birdsong in the background, making it seem the games were being played in a park rather than indoors. The main two matchups were between the tournament leader Anna Muzychuk and former World Champion Tan Zhongyi, as well as, the duel between Zhu Jiner and Vaishali Rameshbabu. Zhu Jiner and Anna Muzychuk are the only two who have a chance to win the overall WGP Series. To qualify for the Candidates and win the WGM season, Anna needs to be in sole first place in Austria. This means getting every point she can, including against Tan. In the Giuoco Piano, in which Muzychuk played as Black, things were calm until she suddenly got a sizable advantage in a complicated middlegame. This was the best position Black got in the game before she spilled the beans. The best choice for Black was to centralise the knight with 18…Ne5! attacking the queen. This forces White to take the knight and leave Black dominating the centre, or to remove her queen from the attack, opening space for the d-pawn to further penetrate White’s defences. Instead, after seven minutes of thinking, Anna played 18…d5? However, after 19.cxd4 Nxe4 20.Bxd5 Nb4? (20…Nxg3 with a slightly better position for Black) 21.Qb3 Nxd5 22.Nxe4 Bxe4 23.Qxd5! forcing the exchange of queens, 23…Bxd5 24.Rxe7 White emerged slightly better. The game continued and was the last to finish with a draw. Anna Muzychuk left the playing area clearly angry with herself for missing an opportunity. Despite this, she maintained her sole lead with 4/5, a point ahead of the rest. After a poor start with two defeats, Zhu Jiner bounced back with two victories. In round five, she was facing Vaishali Rameshbabu, who has, until this game, had two victories and two draws. The young Indian hope surprised her opponents in three out of four games played, building an image of a very uncomfortable player. In the Four Knights of Sicilian Defence, she was surprised by Zhu and spent a lot of time thinking, entering time trouble early in the game. Despite losing a pawn, Vaishali managed to hold by move 30, and then all fell apart. In time trouble, instead of 30…gxf5 Vaishali played 30…Qc2?? Allowing White to exchange the queens and enter a winning rook endgame. 31.Qxc2 Rxc2 32.f6! sealing off the black king. 32…h5 33.Rd1 Re2 34.Rd8+! And now White has penetrated Black’s back ranks. 34…Kh7 35.Rf8 Rxe5 36.Rxf7+ Kh6 37.Rxa7 Zhu has two more pawns and a runner on the a-file and nothing can stop that. An excellent performance by Zhu. After starting with two losses, she scored three consecutive victories – a great feat in a field of strong players. This game was the first major setback for Vaishali in Austria, as she remains on 3/5. In the second game with the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk surprised her opponent, Nurgyul Salimova, by playing 1.d4. The former women’s world champion managed to gain the upper hand after an early break in the centre. By move 15, White gained an extra pawn and had a significant advantage. Black just lost a pawn defending the king’s fortress. In this sharp position, instead of 16.0-0! (intending to meet 16…Nxd5 with 17.Rd1), Alexandra played the natural but errouneous 16.Be4, which allowed Black counterplay with 16…f5 17.Bd3 Qxd5? regaining the lost pawn but 17…c4! was much stronger. 18.Rb1? Ra5 and now after 18…c4! 19.Be2 f4! 20.Qd1 Qa5+ 21.Kf1 the tables have completely turned: Black has space and initiative, threatening White from the centre, while Kosteniuk’s pieces are pushed back and pinned, the rook on h1 trapped, and the king not fully secure. The former Women’s World Champion tried to resist but resigned on move 25. This was the shortest game in the tournament so far, ending in a victory. This was the first win for Nurgyul Salimova in the tournament, after one draw and three defeats. Clearly pleased, in the post-game interview, she noted that thanks to the sunny weather, she “already felt positive vibes” even before the game. Austria’s Olga Badelka started losing her way in the early stages of the Queen’s Gambit Declined against Georgian Lela Javakhishvili. Playing as White, Olga pressed on the kingside, but Lela made sure she was in time to react and hold everything under control. By move 22, Black was dominating. It was obvious Javakhishvili was at ease with her position and performance – she spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the park in which the playing venue is located, while Badelka was glued to her seat for most of the game. On move 32, Black correctly sacrificed an exchange, which was the shortest way to victory. Badelka resigned on move 42, after nearly three hours of play. With 2.5 points, Javakhishvili is on 50%, while Austria’s Badelka has two victories and three losses. Mariya Muzychuk and Nana Dzagnidze drew in the Sicilian. Surprised by 7.c3 in the Moscow Variation, Dzagnidze ended up with doubled pawns on the e-file, but generated enough counterplay to hold a draw. She remains unbeaten with one win