FIDE WGP: Kateryna Lagno takes the lead in Astana
With two rounds to go, Kateryna Lagno is a half-point ahead of Aleksandra Goryachkina The Kazakhstan Chess Federation, in close collaboration with FIDE, is leaving no stone unturned in their desire to provide a clean and safe environment for the Women’s Grand Prix in Astana. One of the main concerns is guaranteeing that the players feel comfortable as soon as they arrive at the Astana Business Hub. The venue is spacious and well-lit, and players can access a special rest area with beverages, fruit and sweets. High-tech digital boards and clocks are being used for the games, and three different types of chairs are provided. With regard to anti-cheating, guarantees are solid. Among other measures, no spectators are allowed in the playing area, all participants are scanned before the game and randomly after the game, and there is a 15-minute delay on the live broadcast. Games will be won or lost, but from my point of view, both the hotel and the venue conditions are excellent. Abdumalik, Zhansaya — Goryachkina, Aleksandra (0.5-0.5) In the first game to finish, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Aleksandra Goryachkina repeated a well-known theoretical draw in the Ruy Lopez. Abdumalik scores half a point against the tournament leader while Goryachkina stays in the lead and saves energy for tomorrow’s important game against Kosteniuk As a side note, Aleksandra turns 24 tomorrow: a chance to celebrate with a quiet birthday dinner. However, this result did give Kateryna Lagno the chance to move into the sole lead if she defeated Zhu Jiner: stay tuned to find out! Tan, Zhongyi — Shuvalova, Polina (0-1) Although they have never faced each other in classical chess over the board, Tan Zhongyi defeated Polina Shuvalova by 17-10 in a gruelling 27-game match in the 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. Shuvalova decided to repeat the Nimzo-Indian defence that she already used against Kashlinskaya in the fifth round, but Tan Zhongyi quickly deviated from the main line, going for a solid Ragozin exchange setup. Soon a d4-isolani position appeared on the board: active play for White’s pieces in exchange for the weak d4 isolated pawn. The crucial moment was when Tan Zhongyi invaded the seventh with her rook, which was a double-edged idea. Shuvalova tried to trap it, and in mutual time-trouble peppered with mutual errors, she managed to outplay her opponent and score her second win in a row. Polina was kind enough to give her insights into the game in an interview with FIDE Press Officer Michael Rahal. Wagner, Dinara — Assaubayeva, Bibisara (0.5-0.5) I could only locate two previous games between these two contenders: a win and a draw in favour of Wagner. With both players on 3.5/8, a win in this important game would catapult one of them to 50%. For today’s game, Assaubayeva, with Black, went for the popular Schallopp variation in the Slav defence: a new opening in this event. Possibly surprised by Wagner’s 10.0-0-0 (both 10.h3 and 10.g3 are far more common), Assaubayeva uncorked the unexpected novelty 10…a5!? And Wagner allowed the pawn to advance to a3, a thorn in the side of her castled king. After the exchange of queens, the game remained balanced for a while. Assuabayeva took advantage of Wagner’s deep time trouble to win a pawn, and even went into a rook ending with two extra pawns. But as they say, “All rook endings are drawn”, and today’s endgame wasn’t an exception. Paehtz, Elisabeth — Kashlinskaya, Alina (0.5-0.5) The German number one female player has generally had good results when facing Poland’s number one. According to the database, they have played classical games five times, with a four to one favourable score for Elisabeth. For the first time in this tournament, Kashlinskaya went for the Nimzo-Indian defence, against which Paehtz chose the popular Bd3-Nge2 setup. After the adventurous 8…e5!?, Paehtz spent 22 minutes evaluating the consequences of grabbing a pawn with 9.Bxf7+ and more than half an hour to calculate 12.Nf4, played back in 2010. It’s unclear whether the pawn sacrifice was preparation – you can argue that there is some compensation for Black – but at least Kashlinskaya was well ahead on the clock. Given her impending time trouble, Paehtz decided to return the extra pawn for an easier game, and after some more exchanges, a peaceful draw was agreed. Zhu Jiner — Lagno, Kateryna (0-1) In their first game face-to-face, Lagno went for the Four Knights Sicilian, which Elisabeth Paehtz has already used a couple of times in this tournament. Zhu Jiner chose the main line with White, but Lagno had prepared a reputable side-line (8…Bb7 instead of 8…Qc7). Zhu Jiner wasn’t caught by surprise. She blitzed out the best moves according to modern theory, momentarily sacrificing a pawn along the way. Lagno returned the pawn a few moves later, and the position remained equal. According to the computer, Zhu Jiner missed a huge chance with 25.a4! (instead of 25.Rc4) with the idea of 26.f5 and 27.Nxd7 in many variations. I also discussed these variations with Lagno before her interview, and she sensed that she might be in danger. However, Zhu Jiner wasn’t on her day and had a blackout. She went for a direct tactical attack but missed that after 28.exf6? she was losing the bishop on c5, which wasn’t hanging before. After losing two games in a row (against the two leaders), she still maintains her third place but is no longer a contender for the top spot in Astana. With this win, Lagno is the sole leader, half a point ahead of Aleksandra Goryachkina. But with two games to go, anything can happen, as she reminded us in her post-game interview. Kosteniuk, Alexandra — Vaishali, Rameshbabu (1-0) In spite of only having played one classical game (which ended in a draw), Kosteniuk and Vaishali clashed in one of the rounds of the 2020 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, which Kosteniuk won by 7-4. Against Vaishali’s Sicilian Defence, Kosteniuk went for the Rossolimo Attack and achieved a small edge in the opening. It’s
FIDE WGP: Goryachkina and Lagno head-to-head in Astana
Five decisive results in the eighth round of the Women’s Grand Prix The amount of decisive results in this tournament is staggering. Not a round has gone by without at least two decisive outcomes; most rounds have between three and four, and today, no less than five of the six games finished with a winner. Compared to most of the top elite events, the drawing percentage is notoriously low, to a large extent based on the fighting spirit of the players: all of them good friends away from the board but fierce competitors when the games begin. All eyes were on two key games this afternoon. The clash between the two leaders, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Zhu Jiner and the game between Kateryna Lagno (also tied for first) and Elisabeth Paehtz. Goryachkina, Aleksandra — Zhu, Jiner (1-0) Undoubtably, the most important game of the round was the clash between the two leaders, who, by the way, had never faced each other over the board before. For this important game, Goryachkina, playing White, chose the English Opening and, more specifically, the Four Knights System, which Magnus Carlsen has recently brought into fashion. I’m not sure if Goryachkina was expecting this line today, although both players were blitzing out their first moves. A previous 2019 game between Carlsen and Caruana continued with the aggressive 11.0-0-0, but Goryachkina preferred the computer suggestion 11.Be2. Zhu Jiner went into the tank for 25 minutes, visibly surprised by the turn of events. Nevertheless, she kept her cool and calculated all the best moves, exchanging queens and going into a more or less equal ending. Goryachkina did have a strong passed pawn on d6 but also some weaknesses in her own position. The Chinese teenager prodigy kept the balance most of the game until she missed 24…Kf8 and then, more importantly erred with 25…Bd7, the losing move (25…Rf8 was still holding). Goryachkina invaded the seventh rank, exchanged a pair of rooks, and after she activated her king, the d6-pawn became the decisive factor. Certain decent endgame technique was required from Aleksandra, but the result was never in doubt. Goryachkina was kind enough to join us in the press room for a short interview. Lagno, Kateryna — Paehtz, Elisabeth (1-0) The first time Lagno and Paehtz faced each other was more than twenty years ago, in the 2001 Girls U18 European Team Championship. Since then, they have played many classical games, with an overwhelming 9-0 record for Kateryna Lagno, albeit with many draws as well in the mix. Leading the event with 5/7 and with co-leaders Goryachkina and Zhu Jiner playing each other, this game was a golden opportunity for Lagno to make a stand. In a Sicilian Rossolimo, Lagno seemed slightly surprised when she spent 20 minutes for the very well-known exchange 6.Nxd4. On her side, Paehtz took her own 20 minutes to calculate the consequences of 8.Qb3. Already on the move fifteen, both players were very low in time, which would explain some of inaccurate moves by both of them during the early middlegame stage. Eventually, Lagno won a central pawn and began to consolidate. Kateryna gradually piled up the pressure with her eyes set on her opponent’s kingside. With a well-timed 44.e6! breakthrough, she won her opponent’s queen and finished off the game effortlessly. In her postgame interview, Kateryna explained to us her opening play. Assaubayeva, Bibisara — Tan, Zhongyi (0-1) Standing on 50% in the standings, Bibisara Assaubayeva was eager to take advantage of the white pieces and go for the win against Tan Zhongyi, whose play has proven to be quite unstable in Astana. Although I couldn’t find any previous classical games between them in the database, I did notice a couple of rapid games. Both players blitzed out the opening, a theoretical line of the Exchange variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, in which White also exchanges queen’s on f6, creating a permanent weakness on Black’s kingside in the form of doubled isolated pawns. However, the theory has more or less proven that Black’s bishop pair offers more than enough compensation, and today’s game didn’t seem to change that assessment. Essentially playing with her increment, Tan Zhongyi improved on a 2018 Kramnik-Aleksandrov game with 16…Rh-g8, with a completely equal position. At a crucial moment, going for the win, Assaubayeva sacrificed a pawn on the kingside to penetrate with her rook. Observing her games during the last few rounds, it has become apparent that Bibisara is always looking for a challenge and never backs down. She is prepared to take a risk and go with her guts. However, on this occasion, maybe she burned her bridges. With more time on her clock, Tan Zhongyi prepared a devious rook sacrifice which Bibisara unexpectedly fell for. In her postgame interview, the Chinese representative explained at what point she saw the trap. Shuvalova, Polina — Kosteniuk, Alexandra (1-0) According to my database, Shuvalova has dominated Kosteniuk in classical games by a 3-1 margin. In yesterday’s postgame interview, Polina suggested that she would try to leave behind her disastrous start and regroup in the second part of the event. With White, Shuvalova went for the fashionable London system, grabbing a pawn on the opening and subsequently defending it in exchange for a weakened pawn structure and bishop pair for her opponent. Kosteniuk could have recuperated material with 8…Bxc5 followed by 9…Qa5+, but instead preferred 8…Qf6, which the computer condemns as being clearly worse. Trying to find some compensation for the pawn, Kosteniuk spent bags of time and around move 20 was already down to her last 25 minutes on the clock: things were looking good for Shuvalova, an extra pawn and much more thinking time. However, just when Kosteniuk was again very near to equality, Shuvalova went for her last chance to complicate the game – and it worked! Kosteniuk blundered 26…exf5? (the weird 26…gxf5 was correct, with equality) and after massive exchanges, Shuvalova found herself in a completely won rook ending
Fifth Chess in Education Lecturer course announced
The International Chess Federation, together with its Chess in Education Commission (EDU) and “Chess” Scientific Research Institute (CSRI), is pleased to announce the 5th Chess in Education Lecturer course. The course will be held 28-30 October, in English, online 15:00-20:00 CET. The objectives of the course: To develop and enhance the skills of effective teaching of chess basics To enhance the ability of using active and interactive teaching methods To improve positive professional communication skills The target audience of the course is professionals with experience in chess and education. Duration and content: 3 days – 15 hours (including breaks) + Project. Day 1 Introduction (100 minutes); Fear – both teachers’ fear and your fear of exam! Teaching the chessboard. (130 minutes) Project assignment (10 minutes) Day 2 Interdisciplinary chess & educational chess (10 minutes) Chessmen: values, moves and set-up (115 minutes) Check. Mate. Stalemate. (115 minutes) Day 3 Presentation of assignments (The projects are not presented. Participants need to send them by email). Problem-solving skills. Teaching playing skills (120 minutes) Effective teaching skills and Course summary (75 minutes) Exam (45 minutes) The cost of training is €75, which covers both access to materials and preparation, and the exam. Those who successfully pass the course will receive the title of Lead School Instructor (LSI). This is valid for three years, and it implies an administrative fee of €50. Those who gain this qualification (LSI) will be those, exclusively, who we appoint to the paid lectureships of the FIDE School Instructor seminars. FIDE Chess in Education Titles are awarded for life and can only be suspended or revoked by a decision of the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission or FIDE Council, while an EDU Licence is a certification by FIDE and EDU of current proficiency to teach at the indicated level of the awarded FIDE EDU title. Chess in Education Titles when awarded include a three (3) year licence. Renewal of the licence requires the completion of a renewal course. During the final six months of the validity of the licence, a title-holder may renew the licence for a further three year period to run from the end date of the current licence by following the normal procedure and paying the appropriate fees (currently €50). Here is the course description in more detail:https://cloud.fide.com/s/kY9Fs5pQ5D9gDS7 Applications for the course are open till October 26. If you want to apply, please fill in the registration form for “Preparation of Lecturers” and send it to edu.chairman@fide.com & copy to edu.senioradviser@fide.com. Your CV & Motivation letter should pay special attention to your relevant experience in “educational chess”, rather than “sport chess”. Please check this explanatory document if you are unsure about the difference between these two concepts: https://edu.fide.com/educational-chess-vs-sport-chess The course is limited to a maximum of 20 people (first come, first served). Applicants who cannot be given an assured place will be placed on the waiting list for the subsequent course.
FIDE WGP Astana: Kashlinskaya and Lagno close the gap
All the participants will enjoy tomorrow’s free day to visit Astana. The sixth round of the Astana Women’s Grand Prix proved to be one of the most exciting, with four decisive outcomes and two hard-fought draws. Tomorrow will be a well-deserved rest day, and play will resume on Sunday. After this afternoon’s results, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Zhu Jiner still lead the event with 4.5/6.0, but both Kateryna Lagno and Alina Kashlinskaya have closed the gap and are just behind on 4/6. Lagno, Kateryna – Tan Zhongyi (1-0) Excluding blitz and rapid games, Kateryna Lagno has had a slightly better head-to-head record 4.5-3.5 over Tan Zhongyi in classical games. However, in their last encounter, Tan Zhongyi eliminated Lagno from the 2021 Sochi World Cup in the fifth round, a mighty blow for the two times European champion. Eager to increase the score between them and maybe even get some payback for the Sochi elimination, Lagno went for the hyper-aggressive 8.g4 variation in the Sicilian Najdorf, which GM Esipenko recently used to defeat World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Lagno might have mixed up her move order in the opening (11.g5 preventing 11…Bh4+ is the computer’s suggestion) but in any case, reached a very nice middlegame position, with a rook on the seventh rank and, more importantly, Black’s queen in great danger of being trapped. Nevertheless, at the same time, Kateryna was very low on time – only 10 minutes left for the last 12 moves. Tan Zhongi tried her best, but she could not find a solution. In the end, she had to give up a piece in order to avoid losing her queen and finally threw in the towel on the move 39. With this win, Lagno advances to +2 and greatly positions herself for the event’s second half. She joined us at the press center to give us her thoughts on the game. Kosteniuk, Alexandra – Zhu Jiner (0.5-0.5) Previously, Kosteniuk and Zhu Jiner had only played one classical game in the 2021 Grand Swiss. In that encounter, Alexandra opened with 1.d4 and scored a nice victory in the Nimzo-Indian Defence. Today, in an attempt to defeat and catch up with one of the co-leaders, Kosteniuk decided upon 1.e4. Zhu Jiner repeated her favourite Najdorf Sicilian, and a typical positional middlegame position emerged: the battle revolved around the all-important d5 square. The position remained more or less balanced, and after mass exchanges, both players tried to squeeze a marginal edge from a bishop plus three pawns ending. After 48 moves, a draw was agreed. Goryachkina, Aleksandra – Wagner, Dinara (0.5-0.5) Although Aleksandra Goryachkina and Dinara Wagner had already faced each other more than ten times in blitz and rapid games, they hadn’t played each other with classical time control. Playing with White, it was clear before the game that Goryachkina was going to try to make the best of this opportunity, going into the rest day leading the event. Wagner went for the Nimzo-Indian defence but chose to play the side-line 7…h6, instead of the more popular 7…c5 and especially 7…dxc4. Both players came very well-prepared for this game: Wagner mentioned in previous interviews that she needed to speed up her opening play to avoid time trouble later on. After twenty moves, it already became clear that Wagner had equalised. It even seemed that she might have the upper hand in the position. However, with spot-on defence, Goryachkina forced a well-known theoretical drawn rook endgame, which finished in the Philidor theoretical drawn position. “My sister and her boyfriend will join me tomorrow. They have come to support me,” said Dinara in her post-game interview. Shuvalova, Polina – Abdumalik, Zhansaya (0-1) In this first classical chess encounter between these two players (previously only three rapid and blitz games), Shuvalova opened with 1.e4 and chose the Rossolimo variation against Abdumalik’s Sicilian defence. By advancing her centre pawns, Shuvalova obtained a lot of space for her pieces but perilously opened up the long h1-a8 diagonal for Black’s light-squared bishop. On move 20, Abdumalik sacrificed a pawn for the initiative. It seemed that Shuvalova had everything under control but at the crucial moment miscalculated 26.Ng5? h5! and suddenly, she was two pieces down for a rook and still facing unsurmountable problems. Abdumalik stepped up the pace, and soon her opponent was in huge trouble, facing two Black bishops, spearheading Zhansaya’s pressure. Things were going great up and until fateful move 41: instead of 41…Nxc3, 41…Bb5! was the way to go. After that Shuvalova’s drawing chances increased but it was still an uphill battle for her: the two bishops are a powerful force on the open board. Abdumalik brought home the game on move 56, scoring her first win in the tournament. She shared her thoughts on the game in a short post-game interview. Vaishali, Rameshbabu – Paehtz, Elisabeth (1-0) Although Elisabeth Paehtz has been around for many years, I wasn’t able to find any previous encounters against her opponent today, Vaishali – not even in official blitz or rapid events. With both players standing on -1 (2/5), a win today would be a crucial step to recover 50% going into the rest day. In a Sicilian Four Knights variation, Vaishali went for one of the most complicated lines, demonstrating once again excellent opening preparation. But Paehtz was ready for the complications. She blitzed out her first twenty moves and then sprang upon her opponent a novelty 20…Qc7, in an attempt to improve Caruana’s play in his 2021 game against Najer. After the exchange of the queens, White seemed to be slightly better in the endgame but once again under time pressure: less than 10 minutes for the last 15 moves to the time control. Once they passed the time control, Vaishali converted a slightly better – albeit very tricky – rook ending into a full point. The happy winner gave her insights into the game in a short interview. Kashlinskaya, Alina – Assaubayeva, Bibisara (1-0) There is no doubt here that Alina Kashlinskaya has been playing the longest games
Astana WGP: Goryachkina and Zhu Jiner extend their lead
“At some point, you really start to appreciate the journey more than the result.” – Alexandra Kostenuk The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix began in 2009-2011 as a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, forming part of the qualification cycle for the 2011 Women’s World Chess Championship. Subsequent Women’s Grand Prix series were held in 2011-2012 and 2013-2014. Chinese star GM Hou Yifan, currently number one on the FIDE Women’s rating list, emerged as the overall winner of all three of these Grand Prix: an outstanding performance. By withdrawing after the first tournament, Hou Yifan paved the way for her compatriot GM Ju Wenjun to win the 2015-2016 Grand Prix, overtaking Humpy Koneru in the final event. The fifth edition of the Women’s Grand Prix, consisting of four events during 2019-2021, was dominated by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, who will definitely be looking to repeat her success this year. After the first five rounds, Goryachkina leads the event with one full point over the rest of the field. However, she is not alone. Zhu Jiner, a mostly unknown Chinese youth, is also performing wonderfully, tied for first with 4/5. Paehtz, Elisabeth – Kosteniuk, Alexandra (0-1) Elisabeth and Alexandra have a huge playing history together and, from what I gather at the start of the rounds, seem to be on very good terms. In my database, I have computed no less than seventy games (under different time controls): the first of them in the 1994 European Under 10 Girls Championship. Quite unbelievable! If we consider their results in classical chess, Kosteniuk has won most of their recent encounters, totalling 11.5-8.5 but, notwithstanding, definitely a tough match-up. For today’s game, Paehtz chose a rare side-line ( 8.Bd2) in the Closed d3 Ruy Lopez Opening, trying to surprise her opponent, but Kosteniuk came very well-prepared and equalised effortlessly. The game remained more or less balanced for the first thirty moves. Just when the game seemed to be heading towards a draw, although Kosteniuk did have a small edge, fate struck for Germany’s number one women player: she blundered a back-rank mate and had to resign. Although in the middle of a roller-coaster event, Alexandra was kind enough to drop in to the press centre and share her thoughts with FIDE Press Officer IM Michael Rahal. You can watch the interview here. Assaubayeva, Bibisara – Lagno, Kateryna (0.5-0.5) Lagno and Assaubayeva have battled it out in many blitz and rapid games over the past few years but had only faced each other in classical chess in the 2021 FIDE World Cup, where Lagno eliminated her opponent by 2.5-1.5. Kazakh number two women player opted for 1.d4 this afternoon and Lagno chose the Tarrasch variation in the Queen’s Gambit declined. As she mentioned later on, she thought that her opponent didn’t really know what to do. After twenty moves the position was about equal: a typical middlegame with an isolated d-pawn for Black but with opposite-coloured bishops to go with the heavy pieces. As Lagno recalled in the post-game interview, she clearly had in mind one of the famous Karpov-Kasparov games, in which the pawn structure and piece distribution was analogous – Karpov won that game with White. Zhu, Jiner – Abdumalik, Zhansaya (1-0) Zhu Jiner and Zhansaya Abdumalik have never faced each other in classical chess; in fact, they had only played two rapid games before. For today’s encounter, Abdumalik chose the popular Sicilian Sveshnikov, a double-edged weapon, in search of sharp play with the black pieces. Zhu Jiner played cautiously, following Caruana’s 7.Nd5 main line, used in the World Championship match against Carlsen. Abdumalik launched an attack with her pawns on the kingside, while Zhu Jiner corresponded on the queenside. It’s always hard to speculate where a certain player might have made a fatal mistake, but in her post-game interview Zhu Jiner mentions 27…Bg3+? – instead 27…Bxe1 is much better – as the moment where Abdumalik loses track, reaching a lost position. With this victory, Zhu Jiner leads the event with 4/5 tied with Goryachkina. Wagner, Dinara – Vaishali, Rameshbabu (0.5-0.5) Based on the Mega Chess Database, Wagner and Vaishali have only faced each other on one occasion before, namely in the 2016 World Under20 Girls Championship. On that occasion Vaishali emerged victorious. Of course, that was many years ago and it has rained a lot since then. Wagner is definitely on a roll in the last couple of games and today it didn’t seem that she was thinking of slowing down. Playing with Black, Vaishali made some inaccuracies in the Catalan Opening and soon found herself a pawn down with meagre compensation. Both 20.Nxf7 and 20.0-0 were probably better options for Wagner, whose advantage slowly dwindled to a point where the computer was already indicating equality: White did have an extra pawn, but a weak king and too many weaknesses. A draw was soon agreed. Tan, Zhongyi – Goryachkina, Aleksandra (0-1) The Chinese player has traditionally been a tough opponent for Goryachkina: 3-2 for Tan Zhongyi in classical games. However, Goryachkina did defeat her in the 2019 Women’s Candidates Tournament, which allowed her to fight for the 2020 World Championship against her compatriot, GM Ju Wenjun. In this afternoon’s game, Goryachkina repeated the same Slav variation that brought her success in the third round against Kashlinskaya. Tan Zhongyi might have missed a chance to press with 24.Rad1 instead of 24.b6 but all in all the game was equal for the most part. Just when the game seemed to be heading for a draw, Tan Zhongyi miscalculated a pawn breakthrough in the ending and was suddenly worse, close to losing. Goryachkina’s killer instinct did the rest, and she finishes the day tied for first place in the lead with Zhu Jiner. Here you can watch an interview with Aleksandra Goryachkina (in Russian with English subs) Kashlinskaya, Alina – Shuvalova, Polina (1-0) In past encounters, and obviously excluding blitz and rapid games, Shuvalova had edged out Kashkinkaya in classical chess by a very narrow 3.5-2.5 margin, although funnily
World Cadets Championships are halfway through
FIDE World Cadets Chess Championships (Open and Girls under 8, 10, 12) are halfway through in Batumi, Georgia. Six out of 11 rounds have been played, and 750+ participants, coaches, and parents are enjoying a free day. Roman Shogdzhiev is the sole leader in the Open U8 with 6 points out of 6. His rating is 1715, which is his peak so far, and he already gains 34.8 points in this tournament and shows a 2127 rating performance. A few months ago, Aaron Reeve Mendes from Canada became the FIDE World School Chess Champion in Panama. Now he’s the rating-favourite of the Open U10 and is leading on par with Gorkem Unsal from Turkey (#24 in the starting list). Both managed to win five games and draw one; a big group of participants is trailing them by half a point. The sole leader in the Open U12 section, Dinh Nho Kiet (pictured above), with maximum points so far, seems very well prepared, even though he hasn’t played a single rated game for a year before April 2022. After that, he increased his rating in almost all tournaments. Compatriots, but representatives of different federations, India and England, Charvi A and Sivanandan Bodhana drew between each other and continue leading in Girls U8. Girls U10 also has two leaders, Nika Venskaya and Evangelia Siskou. Nika Venskaya (pictured above) is progressing very rapidly. She participated in two open tournaments in August and gained 186.4 rating points! So, we can’t say that her leading in this tournament is unexpected. Second leader Evangelia Siskou, despite her young age, participated in the national team championship and famous traditional Kavala open this summer. It was probably part of the preparation to fight for the medals! Girls U12 is the only age category where three players are leading. Indian Shubhi Gupta, Elnaz Kaliakhmet from Kazakhstan, and a representative of the host country, Georgian Mgeladze Kesaria. They haven’t played against each other yet; right after free day, there will be the first battle among the leaders. Shubhi’s father Pradeep Gupta told us a little about his daughter and her chess path: “Shubhi started to play chess as a hobby at home and joined the chess club at Indirapuram Public School when she was in the first grade. In her first inter-school competition, she secured third place. With time, chess became her passion, and she started participating in state and national championships. In 2021, during the pandemic, she participated in the world and Asian level online championships and clinched silver in the Asian and Western Asian School Championships. This year, she bagged gold in U12 and bronze in U16 National Chess Championships. She also participated in OTB Western Asian Youth Chess Championship in June 2022 in the Maldives and secured three silver medals.” “This is her first time participating in OTB World Cadet Chess Championship, and we are enjoying the event and Batumi,” continues Pradeep. “She liked the sea view from her room and the view of the valley on the other side.” Shubhi is trained by her coach Prasanjit Dutta and spends almost 5-6 hours daily on chess. She has the dream of becoming a Grandmaster in the next two years and following her passion for playing chess professionally. And here is the portrait of the co-leader in Girls U8, Charvi A. She became interested in chess when she was around five years old. First, she played with her daycare friends and later started training with IM Shivananda BS. FIDE World Cadet Championships is her first major tournament over the board. Last year she participated in World and Asian Online Championships. Currently, she is training with WGM Aartie Ramaswamy and IM Shivananda and practices chess every day for 5 hours! Despite being so young, Charvi A has already won many titles, even in the elder age categories. Her best results: National Champion among girls U8 anU10 in 2022; 4th place in the Indian School Championship in the open section; Gold medalist of the Indian School Championship U7 in 2021; Individual silver and team gold medalist of Asian School Championship in 2021; Individual silver and team gold medalist of western Asian Championship U8 in 2021; Winner of Karnataka state open rapid tournament U15 in 2022. Her parents told us that her ambition is to become the World Champion, and she is enjoying her stay here in Batumi since it is her first tournament outside India. Reporting by Sofio Gvetadze Photos by Sopio Nikoladze Official website of the tournament: https://wccc2022.fide.com/
FIDE WGP Astana: Up-and-coming Zhu Jiner joins the lead
“I thought it would be fine if someone played the Grand Prix Attack here at the Grand Prix, but, unfortunately, I didn’t prepare it” – Dinara Wagner The fourth round of the Astana Grand Prix was no less exciting than any of the previous rounds, even though only two games had a decisive result. After a third of the tournament has been played, pre-event favourite Aleksandra Goryachkina shares the lead with up-and-coming talent Zhu Jiner: both of them are still undefeated. The level of concentration of the twelve players is amazing: every time I pop into the playing area to check on the games, I hardly ever see any of them on their feet looking at the other games. It’s fully understandable how tired they feel at the end of these strenuous playing sessions, and the fact that each day they come to play with added energy is to be commended. Vaishali, Rameshbabu – Tan, Zhongyi (0.5-0.5) The young Indian prodigy, replacing GM Humpy Koneru here in Astana, repeated the Italian Opening, which she played against Kashlinskaya in round two. She brought to the table a rather new idea (a3-b4-Bb2), expanding her queenside and achieving quite a serious space advantage. However, the position was so closed that both players manoeuvred for most of the game, while Vaishali was gradually getting very low on time. With less than 5 minutes for the last ten moves – Tan Zhongyi had more than an hour on her clock – she offered a draw which was rapidly accepted. She kindly accepted our invitation to discuss the game in a short interview. Goryachkina, Aleksandra – Assaubayeva, Bibisara (0.5-0.5) The tournament leader opened the game with 1.e4, and Assaubayeva repeated her favourite Sicilian Najdorf. The former Grand Prix winner had worked on the positional 7.Nf3 variation of the English Attack and blitzed out her first seventeen moves: impressive preparation! It seemed that Assaubayeva wasn’t totally sure how to counteract her opponent’s plan and soon fell into a slightly passive position, with pawn weaknesses on a5 and especially d6. Nonetheless, the second-rated Kazakh female player defended tenaciously and even found a nice tactical trick to hold the balance. A draw was agreed, just after the 30th move had been reached. Visibly happy, Bibisara took us through the game in a short interview. Abdumalik, Zhansaya – Paehtz, Elisabeth (0.5-0.5) It was a very equal game. After an opening move transposition, both players headed down to one of the more fashionable lines of the Sveshnikov variation in the Sicilian. With precise defensive play, Paehtz neutralized White’s positional ideas and after 20…b4 equalised comfortably. Paehtz went through a tough moment when Abdumalik opted to exchange queens: the ending was slightly better for White, but with precise play, a draw was agreed. The top German female player for the last twenty years visited the press centre and recorded a short interview. “At some point, I lost control over the position. I was very happy when she decided to exchange queens as I didn’t think I had enough weaknesses to lose the game,” Elisabeth explained to press officer IM Michael Rahal. Don’t miss the interview, especially if you a German-speaking fan of Elisabeth Paehtz! Shuvalova, Polina – Zhu, Jiner (0-1) In the clash between two of the youngest players in the tournament – born in 2001 and 2002, respectively – the game opened with the Ruy Lopez, and for many moves, followed an old 1995 encounter between GM’s Matthias Wahls and Michael Adams. The evaluation remained balanced for some time: Shuvalova’s kingside pawn structure was slightly damaged but, in return, she had a superior pawn centre. A manoeuvring phase began, with each player hoping to find the best squares for their major pieces. It seemed that the Chinese star was getting the upper hand, installing a strong rook on d3 but, low on time, she offered an untimely exchange of queens. In a very tricky double-rook ending, Shuvalova missed an opportunity to win (36.f6! was her best try) and then blundered an unbelievable stalemate opportunity towards the end of the game. With this result, Zhu Jiner leads the tournament, tied with Aleksandra Goryachkina. Although she is still learning English, she always welcomes the opportunity to practice the language in the post-game interviews. Kosteniuk, Alexandra – Wagner, Dinara (0-1) The Gran Prix Attack against the Sicilian is a very dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled attacker. Kosteniuk opted for this line today, and after 8.f5! was already scanning Black’s weak f7 square. Wagner was clearly out of preparation: she took thirty minutes to calculate the consequences of 8…Ng8-e7 and the other eighth-move alternatives. “I thought it would be fine if someone played the Grand Prix Attack here at the Grand Prix, but, unfortunately, I didn’t prepare it,” she regretted after the game. To avoid a direct catastrophe, Wagner was forced to give up her dark-squared bishop: Kosteniuk gradually honed in on the weakened king, sensing the kill. But as all chess players know, it’s never easy. 20.Ne6! looked very strong (instead of Bd6) and further on 26.Rc1 with equality was definitely better than 20.Re6. Wagner snatched a pawn, turned the tables and with good endgame technique, scored a huge victory. Dinara reflected upon her performance in a short interview. Lagno, Kateryna — Kashlinskaya, Alina (0.5-0.5) The Exchange Variation in the French Defence has always been considered a drawish line. However, Lagno’s 5.c4 idea definitely spiced up the game: with two White’s in a row, and full confidence after yesterday’s victory, the former two-time European Champion was playing for a win. Although essentially dealing with a side-line, both players demonstrated fine preparation, blitzing out their first ten moves, reaching a more or less balanced middlegame. Just when things seemed to be heading to a draw, Kashlinskaya lashed out with a badly-timed 27…a5, a seemingly aggressive pawn breakthrough. Lagno captured the pawn and after the exchange of rooks, went into a very favourable, probably won queen endgame. However, Kateryna did not manage to find the most precise moves in time trouble and her advantage faded away
Lviv and Berlin to play charity match
On Friday, September 23, the Ukrainian city of Lviv and the German capital Berlin will play a charity match. The one-day competition will bring together some of the most famous personalities of German and Ukrainian chess without them meeting directly, as it will be held in a hybrid format. Grandmaster Niclas Huschenbeth will lead the Berlin team, while Volodymyr Vetoshko will be his counterpart on the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian-born Angelika Valkova will host the match and stream it live on her Twitch channel, supported by German IM Georgios Souleidis aka “The Big Greek”. The start time is 16:45 Berlin time. The lineups: Berlin Niclas Huschenbeth (GM, 2572) Steve Berger (IM, 2451) Alexander Lagunow (IM, 2360) Clemens Rietze (FM, 2360) Lviv Volodymyr Vetoshko (GM, 2450) Oleg Romanishin (GM, 2414) Mikhail Kazakov (GM, 2400) Margeir Petursson (GM, 2447) This match is dedicated to supporting UNICEF’s “Help for Children from Ukraine” fundraising campaign. “We have chosen this organization because its work is very close to our hearts. Both we and UNICEF are happy about your support because really every contribution helps!” write the organizers on the landing page of the match, www.hybrid-chess.de. The link to the donations page:https://www.betterplace.org/de/fundraising-events/42762-chess-for-ukraine-wir-spielen-du-spendest
FIDE WGP Astana: Goryachkina leads after three rounds
Three decisive outcomes in the third round of the Women’s Grand Prix. Time trouble is a serious problem for chess players. Understanding how to balance thinking enough to avoid mistakes during the game, with not thinking too much and getting into time trouble is a talent in itself. This afternoon, none less than four of the games were essentially decided between moves thirty and forty, when players are on the low spectrum of the time distribution. Those who shine in these situations will definitely be the ones leading the tournament in the final rounds. Lagno, Kateryna — Shuvalova, Polina (1-0) With both players on 50%, expectations for this game were high. Lagno went for the 8.a4 Anti-Marshall line, used by Nepomniachtchi in the 2021 World Championship against Magnus Carlsen. However, Shuvalova came well prepared and essentially blitzed out her first 15 moves. Nonetheless, Lagno was performing at the highest level, albeit spending a lot of time on the clock – after move 17, she only had thirty minutes left to reach the time control. Shuvalova seemed to be doing well but, at some point, lost track, and ended up exchanging her centre d5-pawn for her opponent’s h3 pawn, weakening somewhat the castled king of the former two-times European Women’s Champion but allowing Lagno to enjoy huge central superiority. Lagno pressed on with strength, connecting three pawns on the fifth rank. Although her technique wasn’t perfect, the win was always there. Her thoughts and analysis of the key moments can be listened to in the following video. Kashlinskaya, Alina — Goryachkina, Aleksandra (0-1) Undoubtedly, one of the main match-ups of the round, the clash between tournament co-leaders Kashlinskaya and Goryachkina was the longest game of the day. Goryachkina selected the Slav from her repertoire, choosing the so-called Soultanbeieff Variation, 5…e6 instead of the more popular 5…Bf5. After a few moves, the position transposed into the popular Panov Attack setup, a tempo down for Black but with White having committed her pawn to a4 (instead of the usual a3). Goryachkina played the novelty 12…a5 and promptly secured the d5 square for her knight, blockading White’s isolated pawn. Meanwhile, Kashlinskaya swung her rook over to the kingside signalling an attack. Goryachkina kept her head above water, exchanged a couple of pieces and pushed back the attack, reaching a queen + knight ending, slightly better for Black due to Kashlinskaya’s isolated d-pawn, but with huge drawing chances. However, in a mutual time trouble, just before the time control, Kashlinskaya blundered her knight (38.Qh4??). Although Goryachkina probably took more time than necessary to convert, she finally notched up her second win in the tournament and now is the sole leader of the event. Assaubayeva, Bibisara — Vaishali, Rameshbabu (0.5-0.5) In the game between two of the best young female players in the world, Vaishali, playing with Black, opted for the aggressive Grunfeld Defense, one of her two main weapons against 1.d4. Confident after her win yesterday, Assaubayeva chose a solid side-line – Vaishali is well-known for her attacking style. Wasting no time at all, Vaishali stepped away from the theoretical continuation and rapidly sacrificed a pawn for the initiative. Unfazed, the current female World Blitz champion began to exchange pieces: she wanted to convert the extra pawn in the ending. Low on time, Vaishali kept pressuring. With both players under their last five minutes, Assaubayeva won a piece for a pawn in a tactical muddle, but Vaishali kept fighting, banking on her passed a-pawn on the seventh rank to keep the balance. Although both players were unsure of the situation, a draw was finally agreed on move 36. The Indian star gave us her thoughts in a short post-game interview, in which she also gave us some insight on how she recovers from tough defeats. Tan, Zhongyi — Kosteniuk, Alexandra (0-1) Eager to recover from yesterday’s loss and get back to 50% as fast as possible, Kosteniuk went for the always dangerous Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez, choosing the 11…Bb7 side-line. After a well-timed …c5 pawn break, she achieved active play and superior development for the pawn. However, Tan Zhongzhi defended successfully and around move 25, Black’s compensations compensation was already diminishing. But when everything was looking good for Tan Zhongyi she faltered in her calculations: computer analysis suggests that 29.g3 is superior to 29.Re1, after which Kosteniuk recuperated the pawn and equalised. Just when the game looked to be heading for the draw – Tan Zhongyi could have exchanged queens with equality on move 39 – the former Chinese World Champion blundered with 40.Bxc4, and immediately fell into a very dangerous situation. Sensing her opportunity, Kosteniuk changed gears and went for the kill, combining her two bishops to launch a decisive attack on her opponent’s king. “My opponent overestimated her chances, and that landed her into big trouble” said Alexandra Kosteniuk in her postgame interview. Wagner, Dinara — Abdumalik, Zhansaya (0.5-0.5) After two defeats in a row, Wagner, playing with the White pieces, wanted to deliver a strong performance today. The Catalan was her opening of choice, which soon transposed into a Stonewall structure. For many moves, they followed a 2021 game between GM’s Baryshpolets and Swiercz, which ended well for White. They also managed their time very well: by move 20 both had more than 40 minutes left on the clock – a welcoming sight for Wagner, who has suffered tremendous time trouble issues in the first two rounds. After the exchange of queens, the game seemed to be heading for a draw, but Wagner was once again very low on time, in a still very complex ending. Kazakhstan’s best female player took advantage of Wagner’s inaccuracies and pushed her a-pawn to promotion. However, after overcoming a match-ball (44…Kf7 instead of 44…Kg7 was winning for Black), Wagner was able to hold a rook vs knight ending to a draw. Visibly relieved, she was kind enough to pop into the press centre for a quick interview. Paehtz, Elisabeth — Zhu, Jiner (0.5-0.5) A very solid game ending in an uneventful
FIDE WGP: Tactics and time trouble in Astana
“I hope that my husband was not watching today!” – Alina Kashlinskaya. “Today was a bloody round” were GM Ilya Smirin’s first words to me when we left the venue this evening. None less than four out of the six games of the round had a decisive result: a huge percentage for this type of event. But the official commentator’s considerations had more to do with the ups and downs experienced during the games. Time-trouble, stranded centre kings, sudden attacks followed by counterattacks, rejected three-fold draw repetitions … All in an afternoon’s work! As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, the format and structure of the Women’s Grand Prix, in addition to the no-nonsense fighting approach of all the players, will undoubtedly give way to many more exciting rounds. Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Kateryna Lagno (0.5-0.5) Lagno tried to surprise her opponent with the Sicilian defence instead of her usual 1.e4 e5. However, Goryachkina was well prepared with the Alapin side-line variation, achieving a small advantage in the opening. Lagno smartly bailed out into a slightly worse ending which she was able to hold to a draw after a small inaccuracy by her opponent. With this result, Goryachkina keeps the lead in the event with 1.5/2.0, although three other players have caught up with her. The two-time European champion and World Blitz and Rapid champion Kateryna Lagno was kind enough to share her thoughts with us in a short postgame video. Zhu Jiner vs Dinara Wagner (1-0) After defeating Hou Yifan a few days ago in the Chinese League, a lot of attention is being focused on the performance of the world’s top under-20 female player, Zhu Jiner. And she certainly didn’t disappoint today! Her opponent, German WGM Dinara Wagner, went for the Sicilian Defence and Zhu Jiner brought her preparation to the table: the dangerous Prins variation. The line seemed to catch Wagner by surprise as, once again, she spent a lot of time navigating her way through the complications, while the Chinese player was practically blitzing out her preparation. In deep time trouble, Wagner was unable to hold a slightly worse position and eventually had to succumb to Zhu Jiner’s fine tactical play. “I am very happy with my win, but the tournament is long and complicated, so I am just trying to play my best and enjoy the event” was Zhu Jiner’s state of mind in the post-game interview. Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Bibisara Assaubayeva (0-1) Top Kazakh female player Bibisara Assaubayeva joins the lead with today’s win over former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. “It’s a very important win for me because I don’t have a good score against her,” said Assaubayeva after the game. Nonetheless, after the opening, it was Kosteniuk who enjoyed a sizeable advantage. She caught her opponent with her opening preparation (Bibisara hadn’t analysed the 10.Nd5 line in the classical Sicilian Najdorf ) and eventually won a pawn. However, Assaubayeva kept her cool, defended with success and spotted a move repetition which should have led to a draw. With both players low in tome heading towards move 40, Kosteniuk decided to force matters and push for the win but fell into a devious tactical trap that Assaubayeva had prepared: After 34….Qc7! hits the queen and also h2, the point being that 35.Qg3 loses to the fantastic 35…Qb6+! mating. The current female World Blitz champion took us through the game in her post-game interview. Zhansaya Abdumalik vs Tan Zhongyi (0.5-0.5)Although this game ended in a draw, it was certainly one of the most complicated of the six. With White, Abdumalik went for an enterprising line of the Scotch opening, leaving her king in the centre and developing her kingside rook via h3, playing for the attack. According to computer analysis, both players missed one or two chances to secure an advantage at different stages of the game. Finally, after a very complex middlegame battle, Abdumalik won a pawn, but her opponent, former World Champion Tan Zhongyi, enjoyed a great deal of positional compensation, more than enough to force a three-fold repetition. Vaishali R vs Alina Kashlinskaya (0-1) For most of the audience in the auditorium, following the games live with local commentary by GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev, definitely the most exciting game of the round. “I agree, it was a crazy game. I hope that my husband (GM Radosław Wojtaszek) was not watching it because he has to play in the Magnus online tournament today!” a very happy Kashlinskaya explained in her post-game interview. In a trending Italian Opening, Kashlinskaya mixed up her opening preparation and went for an extremely dangerous pawn advance in front of her castled king. Vaishali quickly took advantage, sacrificed a piece – which Alina didn’t accept – and forced her opponent’s king out into the open. However, a piece sacrifice was needed to finish off the job, and Vaishali faltered. Instead of 20.f3? played in the game computer analysis suggests the idea of 20.gxf7 followed by 21.Qxg4, sacrificing the knight on d2. As played, Black coordinated his pieces and fully employed the power of her e-pawn to score a full point. Polina Shuvalova vs Elisabeth Paehtz (1-0) After defeating her compatriot Wagner yesterday in a King’s Indian, Paehtz repeated Black this afternoon against Shuvalova. The opening was a success: on move 15 she had secured a strong knight on the e5 in the Sicilian defence and had equalised comfortably. She even enjoyed a slight time advantage on the clock. However, Shuvalova defended tenaciously, avoiding direct threats and complicating the position as much as possible. Just before move 40, with both players in deep time trouble, Paehtz blundered a double attack (39.Qc1!) and was forced to resign after 39…Ra2 40.Qc8+ Kf7 (40…Rf8 41.Qxe6+) facing 41.Qe8#. Standings after Round 2 Round three pairings are out, featuring the clash between co-leaders Alina Kashlinskaya and Aleksandra Goryachkina. Round 3 | Astana | 20.09.2022 Lagno, Kateryna — Shuvalova, PolinaKashlinskaya, Alina — Goryachkina, AleksandraAssaubayeva, Bibisara — Vaishali, RameshbabuTan, Zhongyi — Kosteniuk, AlexandraWagner, Dinara — Abdumalik, ZhansayaPaehtz, Elisabeth — Zhu, Jiner Text: IM Michael Rahal, FIDE Press Officer, Astana Photo: Anna Shtourman