Queens’ Festival: Registration date extended
The Global Women’s Online Chess Challenge “The Queens’ Festival”, a series of continental and global women’s online chess tournaments and educative side events, starts on June 11, 2021. Female players from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas will first be able to participate in the Continental Online Blitz Qualification Tournaments and those who qualify will advance to the Queens’ Online Individual and Team Finals. Organized by FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in cooperation with FIDE Events Commission and with the support of the International Olympic Committee, the festival welcomes all women chess players from around the world of all ages and all rating groups, including unrated chess fans. Players will compete in four rating categories: • Category A: > 2100 • Category B: 1800-2099 • Category C: 1500-1799 • Category D: < 1500, unrated Each country can register four female players (one in each category) free of charge. The registration deadline for Qualification Tournaments in Africa and Asia is extended until next Wednesday, June 9, 2021. The registration deadline for Qualification Tournaments in Europe and America is extended until Wednesday, June 16, 2021. For those interested in various chess-related topics, organizers have prepared seminars and networking events with special guests including Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Dinara Saduakassova, Jennifer Shahade, Susan Namangale, Regina Pokorna, Sarkhan Gashimov, Dr. Gnounewou Fopa Seraphin and others. Registrations form, tournament regulations, seminars schedule and more information about the event can found at queensfestival.fide.com
Round 11: to Zhansaya, the glory, to Kateryna, the ticket to the Candidates
Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan), having already secured first place in round 10, drew smoothly with Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) in the last round of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix to finish on a commanding score of 8½/11, 1½ points clear of the field. Kateryna Lagno of Russia drew her game with Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine to finish on 6½ and clinch her place in the Candidates’ tournament alongside Humpy Koneru, who also qualifies via the Grand Prix series, and Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia, who qualifies as runner-up in the last Women’s World Championship. Second in the tournament was Mariya Muzychuk on 7 points, with Kateryna Lagno sharing third with Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, who had a fine tournament. The last round, played at the Caleta Hotel on 2 June, featured two decisive results and a second power failure in as many days, though the play was only interrupted for 15 minutes. The final game between Nana Dzagnidze and Valentina Gunina ran for more than six hours. Zhansaya Abdumalik defended a standard line of the Ruy Lopez/Spanish against Anna Muzychuk. The tournament winner never looked in trouble. A pair of bishops were exchanged but otherwise, all the pieces were still on the board when a repetition occurred. Kateryna Lagno against Mariya Muzychuk, rivals for second place in the tournament, began with a Caro-Kann. It seemed a fairly sedate choice of the line by the Russian player with White but Mariya opted to castle queenside and imbalance the position somewhat. At first, Kateryna seemed to have the upper hand but analysis engines didn’t like her move 30.Be2, inviting Mariya to give up the exchange for two pawns. However, Mariya chose not to go in for this line, exchanging some material on c3 for a draw instead. This gave Kateryna the half-point she needed to be sure of a place in the forthcoming Candidates’ tournament alongside Humpy Koneru. Paehtz-Mammadzada transposed into a Grünfeld. Lizzie pushed 14.d5 but two moves later Gunay captured it via a temporary piece sacrifice. It didn’t ultimately secure an extra pawn for Black, but Gunay obtained a substantial positional advantage. However, somewhere down the road Gunay missed her way and had to be content with a draw. After some transpositions, Kashlinskaya – Stefanova became a Cambridge Springs variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Alina soon established a stable edge in the middle game, without having any obvious ways of exploiting it. Antoaneta later got into her habitual time trouble, and Alina’s advantage soon became overwhelming. Mindful of her first week’s sufferings, Alina didn’t look for a flashy finish, but it soon morphed into an easy win, enabling Alina to overtake Antoaneta in the final standings. Dinara Saduakassova versus Irina Bulmaga saw Fianchetto King’s Indian. Dinara hit on a strong plan to work a knight via c4 and a5 to c6 where it exerted great pressure on Irina’s position and attacked a rook on b8. Irina left the rook to be taken, but Dinara decided she wanted more and played Bg5. However, she took the exchange next move. After that, it was always an uphill struggle for Irina to get back into the game. When the material was much reduced, her hopes of survival might have been raised a little, but Dinara’s finish was clinical. Valentina Gunina opened 1.d4 against Nana Dzagnidze, who defended with a Bogo-Indian. Nana was looking for more than a draw to preserve any chance of securing a place in the Candidates’ tournament. In the early middlegame, things started to go awry for Valentina, and Nana was able to snatch a pawn with 19…Bxe2, which looked slightly hot at first sight but turned out to be fine. With an extra pawn, Nana was firmly in the driving seat but anyone who’s followed this tournament will know that Valentina fights like a tigress in every game and, of course, she battled her way into the game. Nana is known as a redoubtable fighter so the final game of the tournament to finish was a battle royal, quite in keeping with the cut and thrust of the previous ten rounds. It went to 135 moves, breaking Valentina’s own record of game length from the tournament and also breaking her run of decisive results. Round 11 results: A. Kashlinskaya (4) 1-0 A. Stefanova (4½) V. Gunina (4) ½-½ N. Dzagnidze (5½) K. Lagno (6) ½-½ M. Muzychuk (6½) A. Muzychuk (5) ½-½ Z. Abdumalik (8) D. Saduakassova (3) 1-0 I. Bulmaga (2) E. Paehtz (5½) ½-½ G. Mammadzada (6) Final standings: 1. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 8½; 2. Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 7; 3-4. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) and Gunay Mammadzada (AZE) – 6½; 5-6. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) and Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) – 6; 7. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – 5½; 8. Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – 5; 9-10. Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) and Valentina Gunina (RUS) – 4½; 11. Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) – 4; 12. Irina Bulmaga (ROU) – 2 Top FIDE Grand Prix 2019-2021 finishers: Women’s Grand Prix Points Nat’y Previous events Gibraltar Total 1 Aleksandra Goryachkina * RUS 398 0 398 2 Humpy Koneru IND 293 0 293 3 Kateryna Lagno RUS 180 100 280 4 Zhansaya Abdumalik ** KAZ 110 160 270 5 Nana Dzagnidze GEO 180 85 265 6 Mariya Muzychuk UKR 120 130 250 7 Anna Muzychuk UKR 165 60 225 8 Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 193 0 193 Players marked in bold qualified for the Candidates’ tournament * = already qualified for Candidates’ tournament (runner-up, last world championship) ** = Grand Prix reserve player – her score is not calculated for the purposes of ranking and qualification Text: John Saunders Photo: John Saunders and David Llada
Mammadova wins Azerbaijani Women’s Championship
Gulnar Mammadova (pictured above) convincingly won the Azerbaijani Women’s Championship with a round to spare. It is her third national title after the victories in 2009 and 2010. The 12-player round-robin tournament with classical time control was held in Nakhchivan from May 21-31, 2021. Gulnar entered the competition as a rating favourite and rose to the challenge. The champion turned in an excellent performance of 9 out of 11 points, conceding her opponents just four draws. Govhar Beydullayeva, Zeinab Mamedjarova and Khayala Abdulla tied for second place on 7½. Thanks to better tiebreaks (the direct encounters) Govhar and Zeinab took silver and bronze respectively. Final standings: 1 IM Mammadova, Gulnar 2382 9 2 WIM Beydullayeva, Govhar 2263 7½ 3 WGM Mamedjarova, Zeinab 2274 7½ 4 WGM Abdulla, Khayala 2263 7½ 5 WCM Ismayil, Malak 1997 6 6 WGM Fataliyeva, Ulviyya 2301 5½ 7 WFM Allahverdiyeva, Ayan 2088 5½ 8 Babayeva, Nasrin 1704 5 9 WFM Hajiyeva, Laman 1982 4½ 10 WCM Rzali, Sabina 1925 3½ 11 WIM Ibrahimova, Sabina 2213 3½ 12 Humbatova, Nazli 1381 1 Official website: www.asf.org.az
Round 10: Zhansaya wins the tournament
Zhansaya Abdumalik secured first place in the penultimate round of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at the Caleta Hotel on 1 June after making a very quick draw with Kateryna Lagno of Russia. The quick cessation of hostilities suited both players as Zhansaya wins the tournament while Kateryna will have it in her own hands to secure a place in the Candidates’ tournament. The only way Kateryna can miss out now is if she loses to Mariya Muzychuk in the last round and Nana Dzagnidze wins against Valentina Gunina. Meanwhile, back home in India, Humpy Koneru can celebrate her own qualification for the Candidates’ event. After the brief and bloodless encounter between Zhansaya and Kateryna, the main drama of the day was a power cut 40 minutes into the round. Thankfully, it lasted only 20 minutes, during which time the players either took a breath of sea outside or else stayed at their boards peering at the pieces in the semi-darkness. Valentina Gunina, after her marathon game against Zhansaya in round 9, played very quickly on the black side of a Slav Defence against Mariya Muzychuk, and soon compromised her position. That said, it was when she stopped to think and then played 15…c5 that her position started to go wrong, as it meant ceding the two bishops and allowing a strong d-pawn push for White. Soon Mariya was bearing down on Valentina’s kingside and the Russian player decided to surrender the exchange rather than submit to passive play. However, despite a long resistance and a typically determined rearguard action by Valentina, she never looked likely to hold the game. The power cut seemed to coincide with a certain energy deficiency amongst some players, but more likely it was the effect of all the exciting and energy-sapping play which had occurred in previous rounds. The remaining games resulted in draws, though they were all hard-fought. Antoaneta Stefanova against Elisabeth Paehtz was some sort of Queen’s Gambit Declined. Antoaneta gained some pressure along the b-file but Lizzie had compensation in terms of play against Antoaneta’s hanging pawns. The game was the last to finish, but it eventually petered out to a draw. Gunay Mammadzada versus Dinara Saduakassova started with a Bogo-Indian. By move 25 Black had two bishops but White enjoyed a little more space. She was unable to capitalise on a positional edge, however, and the game also ended in a draw. Irina Bulmaga looked to be winning at various points in her game against Anna Muzychuk, who chose to play a slightly suspect line of Winawer French. Despite two extra pawns, the position started to look difficult for Anna as Irina piled on pressure along the g-file and Anna’s pieces were cramped. Irina tried hard to exploit her advantage, but the position was highly complex and it wasn’t easy for her to find a way to break through. Eventually, a fleeting chance to win the game presented itself when Anna blundered with 29…Kf7. Irina might have snatched victory with a combination starting with 30 Ng5+ but sadly missed her opportunity. Nana Dzagnidze opened with a Symmetrical English against Alina Kashlinskaya. Nana tried to dodge her opponent’s (and her opponent’s super-GM husband’s) theoretical preparation, but her plan went slightly wrong. However, it wasn’t a serious disadvantage and with a careful play she was able to exchange pieces and reach the safe haven of a draw. Round 11 is on Wednesday 2 June at the earlier time of 14.00 CET. Live transmission, with Veselin Topalov and Fiona Steil-Antoni, may be found at https://wgp2019.fide.com/#live Round 10 ResultsA. Stefanova (4) ½-½ E. Paehtz (5)G. Mammadzada (5½) ½-½ D. Saduakassova (2½)I. Bulmaga (1½) ½-½ A. Muzychuk (4½)Z. Abdumalik (7½) ½-½ K. Lagno (5½)M. Muzychuk (5½) 1-0 V. Gunina (4)N. Dzagnidze (5) ½-½ A. Kashlinskaya (3½) Standings after Round 10: 1. Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) – 8; 2. Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 6½; 3-4. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) and Gunay Mammadzada (AZE) – 6; 5-6. Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) and Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) – 5½; 7. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) – 5; 8. Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) – 4½; 9-10. Valentina Gunina (RUS) and Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS) – 4; 11. Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) – 3; 12. Irina Bulmaga (ROU) – 2 Leading Grand Prix Places after Round 10 (based on current positions) Women’s Grand Prix Points Nat’y Previous events Gibraltar Total 1 Aleksandra Goryachkina * RUS 398 0 398 2 Humpy Koneru IND 293 0 293 3 Kateryna Lagno RUS 180 100 280 4 Zhansaya Abdumalik ** KAZ 110 160 270 5 Nana Dzagnidze GEO 180 75 255 6 Mariya Muzychuk UKR 120 130 250 7 Anna Muzychuk UKR 165 60 225 8 Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 193 0 193 Players marked in bold would qualify for the Candidates’ tournament if the current tournament position remained the same* = already qualified for Candidates’ tournament (runner-up, last world championship)** = Grand Prix reserve player – not eligible for Candidates’ tournament place
Round 9: Zhansaya’s marathon victory
Round nine of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at the Caleta Hotel on 31 May came to a heart-stopping conclusion after six hours and ten minutes as Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan won her game against Valentina Gunina of Russia in 133 moves despite never having the remotest chance of winning the game for the first 100 moves. Zhansaya thus completes her rating requirement for the grandmaster title as well as moving into an imposing two-point lead over the rest of the field with two rounds remaining. Zhansaya has 7½/9 while three players are on 5½. Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan is one of them: she nearly achieved a GM norm but missed some drawing chances towards the end of her game with Kateryna Lagno, who also moved to 5½ and remains the front runner for a place in the Candidates’ tournament. Mariya Muzychuk remains on 5½ after losing to Alina Kashlinskaya. Zhansaya Abdumalik played the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted against Valentina Gunina, who has yet to draw a game in the tournament. Valentina advanced in the centre while Zhansaya countered on the queenside. Suddenly things became sharp as Zhansaya played the risky looking 17…h6, which Valentina replied to with a sneaky temporary sacrifice 19 Nxc4. Zhansaya further stirred the pot with 20…Bxa3, allowing a possible incursion into her territory with 21 Qh7+, but Valentina found a more pragmatic way of handling the position, emerging with an extra pawn. For most of the rest of the game, Valentina held an advantage but, typically, Zhansaya fought tenaciously. There was even a brief moment when a win was possible, but very much of the computer variety – 46…f4!! Instead, Zhansaya played a move that might have lost, but once again she clawed her way back to equality. On and on they played, with Zhansaya eventually securing a dead-drawn position. Her hopes of completing her GM requirement had evaporated hours before and she would have had to accept a draw had Valentina repeated moves or offered a draw. But we all reckoned without Valentina’s gung-ho spirit. She hasn’t drawn a game yet in the tournament and plays every game to death. She tried too hard to win a won position and, as so often happens, found a way to lose. Suddenly Zhansaya was presented with a won position, though it was still problematic. Valentina fought tenaciously again, now in a lost cause. After six hours and ten minutes, with both players utterly exhausted, Zhansaya finally secured the most improbable of victories, and it was my privilege to be the first person to address her as ‘Grandmaster Zhansaya Abdumalik’ when she came into the interview room. An utterly unforgettable game for everyone who witnessed it, and one reflecting great credit on both players for their never-say-die attitude. Gunay Mammadzada, needing a draw with Black against Anna Muzychuk to clinch a nine-round GM norm, defended with a Scheveningen Sicilian where White fianchettoes kingside. Gunay’s 12…Bb7 led to a passive position in which White was able to take control of the dark squares in return for a temporary pawn sacrifice. Prospects looked blear for Gunay, but Anna failed to find the most accurate way to clinch the victory. When the game transformed into an endgame, there was a fleeting moment when Gunay might have held the draw, but it was hard to work out over the board and Anna won the resultant king and pawn endgame. Kateryna Lagno, after suffering her first loss in round eight, opened 1.e4, and Irina Bulmaga, after a run of four straight losses, countered with a Rauzer Sicilian. Around move 20, Kateryna had established an edge and soon secured the two bishops. Irina ceded a pawn for which she had insufficient compensation, and things started to look bleak for her. Irina wasn’t able to create counterplay and Kateryna soon managed to launch a conclusive kingside assault. Kateryna thus retains her edge in the race to qualify for the Candidates’ tournament. Nana Dzagnidze and Antoaneta Stefanova, both on 4/8, started with a Semi-Slav. As they emerged from the opening, Antoaneta had a slightly better position as she advanced pawns towards Nana’s queenside castling set-up. Nana thought that Antoaneta’s plan of 17…Ba6, exchanging light-squared bishops, might have been a mistake, and it became increasingly clear that White was in full control. Nana worked her knight into play and then mounted a kingside attack. Antoaneta’s time trouble aggravated her problems and very soon Nana found a powerful breakthrough to clinch the point and preserve her chances of a Candidates’ place. Alina Kashlinskaya and Mariya Muzychuk started with the Botvinnik (Anti-Moscow) variation of the Slav Defence, where both players have to walk a tightrope of complexity on which the tiniest slip can send you tumbling into the abyss. Before long, Mariya, playing Black, had gained a couple of pawns but Alina was occupying dark squares and pressing against Black’s weak e6-pawn, constituting solid compensation. The position became very complicated and eventually, Mariya blundered, losing immediately. Her chances of qualifying for the Candidates’ tournament must be all but finished. Elisabeth Paehtz was still in the running for her final GM norm. She had to win in round nine and round ten to make a ten-round norm, and could then convert it to an 11-round norm by winning again in the final round. Today, playing the black side of a Catalan, Lizzie started at a rate of knots against Dinara Saduakassova. “She’s going to break some sort of record,” said commentator Veselin Topalov. However, the game proceeded evenly and Dinara never gave Lizzie a chance of scoring a win. Eventually, a threefold repetition presented itself: in her post-game interview, Dinara said, “yesterday I could have repeated, so today…” – I finished the sentence for her, “discretion was the better part of valour!” Round 10 is on Tuesday 1 June at 15.00 CET. Live transmission, with Veselin Topalov and Fiona Steil-Antoni, may be found at https://wgp2019.fide.com/#live Standings after Round 9: 1. Zhansaya Abdumalik –
Magnus Carlsen wins world’s first bitcoin chess tournament
Magnus Carlsen is the world’s first bitcoin chess champion after overcoming Wesley So in a thrilling FTX Crypto Cup final. The Norwegian takes home the $60,000 first prize plus a 0.6 bitcoin bonus offered by tournament sponsor FTX. It is the largest prize pot ever offered in an elite online chess event. After the see-saw match ended with Carlsen punching the air in delight, the champ said: “It’s pretty sick! I came back five times when I needed it, and I also lost twice. “It’s absolutely insane. I am just so happy to have pulled through. It’s a massive, massive relief.” Carlsen also stretches his lead at the top of the $1.5 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour table and avenges two defeats to So in finals this season. Carlsen had to dig deep to triumph over the US star as the record-breaking final went down to an incredibly tense “Armageddon” play-off. Nothing could separate the pair after two four-game rapid matches spread over two days both finished 2-2. But the reigning World Champion finally broke through when the pressure ramped up in with the quicker time control. When victory finally came, the relief showed. So has emerged as Carlsen’s most dangerous foe in the Tour, beating him in the Skilling Open and the Opera Euro Rapid events. But an unthinkable hat-trick of final wins against the champ proved one step too far. In the opener in the rapid section, Carlsen played a model game that showed off all his legendary crushing strengths. The Norwegian simply didn’t give So a chance. So, the World Champion at Fischer-Random chess had to resign and Carlsen was finally ahead. However, So wasn’t beat yet and Carlsen’s lead didn’t last long. It all went wrong for the champ in Game 2 as So calmly turned the screw on Carlsen to strike back immediately. The third was an unbalanced thriller that could have gone either way – but it ended in a fighting draw by repetition. Game 4 was completely different – a quick draw as both players drew breath before going into the blitz playoff. It started with incredible drama as Carlsen fell into a trap set by So and lost his queen. Carlsen was furious with himself and then had to resign. The champion was left needing to win with the black pieces to take it to an Armageddon tiebreaker. It seemed impossible: but he did it. Carlsen showed all his passion and punched the air shouting “come on” as So lost. Everything then rested on the Armageddon game with Carlsen with White and 5 minutes on the clock needing to win and So with Black having a minute less but only needing a draw. Carlsen won as So ran out of time in a losing position. With a huge release of energy, Carlsen punched the air again as his opponent resigned. So said afterwards: “I’d like to thank Magnus, I think he is the fully deserved winner as I think he played the best.” In the match between the losing semi-finalists for third-place, Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Teimour Radjabov 2.5-1.5. After a drab encounter that saw four straight draws yesterday, it was Nepo who secured $25,000 and 0.25 bitcoin prize for finishing third. The FTX Crypto Cup is leg 6 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organised by the Play Magnus Group. All games are played in the new chess24.com play zone. The next event is a Regular tournament that carries a $100,000 prize pot. It will run from June 26 to July 4. There are two more after that before the Tour Finals in September starting on September 25. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Eight American players qualify for 2021 FIDE World Cup
The American Hybrid World Cup Qualifier was an 8-group (16 players in each) knockout tournament taking place from May 22-29. The winner of each group qualified for the 2021 FIDE World Cup that will be held in Sochi, Russia from July 10 to August 7. All the games were played online on Tornelo platform from designated venues. All the matches consisted of two classical games (120 min + 30 sec) and tiebreakers (2 games, 10min + 3sec) when needed. In case of an even score after a tiebreaker, an Armageddon blitz-game was played. Playing venue – St. Louis Chess Club Photo: St. Louis Chess Club Twitter The following eight players punched their tickets to the 2021 FIDE World Cup: GM Mareco, Sandro ARG 2629 GM Tang, Andrew USA 2538 GM Krysa, Leandro ARG 2527 GM Henriquez, Villagra Cristobal CHI 2600 GM Bachmann, Axel PAR 2599 GM Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag BRA 2554 GM Moradiabadi, Elshan USA 2555 GM Hungaski, Robert USA 2514
Round 8: Zhansaya Abdumalik stretches her lead
IM Zhansaya Abdumalik, of Kazakhstan, increased her lead to a full point over the field in round eight of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix by defeating Alina Kashlinskaya of Russia. Zhansaya also took a big step towards achieving the rating she needs for her GM title. Kateryna Lagno, of Russia, a front runner for the Candidates’ place which will go to the highest placed eligible player, lost her game to Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, but despite that reverse remains the best-placed contender to go through to the Candidates. By scoring her third successive win Gunay has taken herself to the brink of a nine-round GM norm for which she needs a draw against Anna Muzychuk in round nine. The star game of the day was the one between two players on 4½ points, Gunay Mammadzada and Kateryna Lagno. Kateryna started the round as one of three undefeated players in the field. The opening was a Ruy Lopez, with Gunay playing her opening moves significantly quicker than Kateryna, indicating better preparation by the Azerbaijani player. Before long, Kateryna offered a queen exchange with 20…Qd3 but this allowed a minor piece exchange on f6 and then a piece sacrifice with 22.Qxf6. Gunay had a long think and then decided to go for this sacrifice, which could be followed by a further piece sacrifice to launch a dangerous attack on the black king. There followed a double oversight shortly afterwards (24. Rfe1 could have been answered by 24…Nd5! – instead 24. Rae1! was winning), but Gunay then reasserted her advantage with some powerful play, reaching a position with an extra pawn and a strong positional grip. Kateryna could not find any way to get back into the game and Gunay went on to score another remarkable win. We now think she needs just half a point in round nine for a nine-round GM norm. Though this was not a great result for her, Kateryna still has the best chance of the small group players in Gibraltar who are eligible, to annex a place in the Candidates. The game between the leader, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Alina Kashlinskaya started with a solid line of the Two Knights’ Defence. Zhansaya occupied the centre with pawns, but Alina developed comfortably and was soon able to exchange heavy pieces and reach an equal position in the late middlegame. However, Zhansaya kept pressing and she eventually emerged with an extra pawn. A queen endgame was ominous for those of us who were looking forward to our dinner but, unfortunately for Alina, she misplayed it and allowed Zhansaya a decisive f5 push after which the game ended with surprising speed. Another determined performance by Zhansaya, who seems to have made a quantum leap in strength recently. Mariya Muzychuk opened 1.e4 against Nana Dzagnidze, who defended with the Najdorf Sicilian. Mariya chose a line with h3 and g4, which Nana countered with a typical Sicilian exchange sacrifice (RxNc3), opening lines for her minor pieces. Veselin Topalov, on commentary, preferred Black “because I like exchange sacrifices.” However, he later criticised 22…f4 after which White’s king became safer. Also, White’s rooks got the open files to operate on. “I think Dzagnidze seriously misplayed,” said the former world champion. However, that wasn’t the end of the story as Nana’s position held together well and eventually, Mariya offered a draw. Antoaneta Stefanova versus Dinara Saduakassova started with a Queen’s Indian, developing into a small but stable edge for White. Then the game followed an encounter that Dinara had played earlier in the tournament against Valentina Gunina but came very imbalanced after a tricky phase of play in the late middlegame. Antoaneta gained two connected passed pawns for a minor piece. Dinara had earlier spurned a chance to draw by perpetual check and must have regretted not taking it as Antoaneta’s pawns steadily advanced up the board, ably supported by the king. Eventually, Antoaneta was able to sacrifice an exchange and force a promotion to clinch the point. Irina Bulmaga, playing against Valentina Gunina’s Caro-Kann Defence, opted for a quiet line (3.exd5 and 4.Bd3) which we old-timers recall Bobby Fischer using against Tigran Petrosian with some success. Irina’s 13.c4 looked suspicious, allowing Black easy equality and perhaps a little bit more. Valentina played quickly and confidently in response but faltered with 23…Bc7 when 23…b5 looked strong and natural. Perhaps encouraged by Valya’s slip, Irina gradually wrested the advantage back for White. However, Irina didn’t play the strong positional advance 29. c6, which Veselin Topalov thought was very good for White, instead opting for 29.Qb7 for a slightly better pawn structure. Later she conceded a pawn to Valentina and ended up in a worse position. After the time control, Valentina pushed a pawn to f3 and this enabled her to mount a successful attack on the white king which concluded the game. The round had started inauspiciously with a quick draw in 15 moves and around 35 minutes between Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) and Anna Muzychuk (UKR) in a Grünfeld Defence. This seems to indicate that Anna has given up on her rapidly dwindling chances of qualifying for the Candidates’ tournament. Round 9 is on Monday 31 May at 15.00 CET. Live transmission, with Veselin Topalov and Fiona Steil-Antoni, may be found at https://wgp2019.fide.com/#live Standings after Round 8: 1. Zhansaya Abdumalik – 6½; 2-3. Mariya Muzychuk and Gunay Mammadzada – 5½ 4-5. Kateryna Lagno and Elisabeth Paehtz – 4½; 6-8. Nana Dzagnidze, Antoaneta Stefanova and Valentina Gunina – 4; 9. Anna Muzychuk – 3½; 10. Alina Kashlinskaya – 2½; 11. Dinara Saduakassova – 2; 12. Irina Bulmaga – 1½ Leading Grand Prix Places after Round 8 (based on current positions) Women’s Grand Prix Points Nat’y Pr. events Gibraltar Total 1 Aleksandra Goryachkina * RUS 398 0 398 2 Humpy Koneru IND 293 0 293 3 Zhansaya Abdumalik ** KAZ 110 160 270 4 Kateryna Lagno RUS 180 85 265 5 Mariya Muzychuk UKR 120 120 240 6 Nana Dzagnidze GEO 180 60 240 7 Anna Muzychuk UKR 165 40 205 8 Alexandra Kosteniuk RUS 193 0 193 Players marked in bold would
Qualifier III: Third time’s the charm for Assaubayeva
The third time is a charm for IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) who qualified for the Main Event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship on her third try. Previously she reached semis in both Qualifiers I and II but did not manage to make it farther. The Qualifier III was a marathon 21-round Swiss tournament (1+1 time control), with the top eight finishers advancing to the knockout playoff stage. In semis, Bibisara faced Deysi Cori (Peru) whereas Daria Voit (Russia) took on Padmini Rout (India). The Russian WGM whitewashed her Indian opponent but in the second match it came down to the wire. After convincingly winning the first game Assaubayeva suffered a painful defeat in the second but braced up and pulled off the third one to advance into the final. The first game of the final ended in a draw as neither player was able to tip the balance in her favour but in the second one, Bibisara completely outplayed Daria with black pieces and deservedly earned a spot in the Main Event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. The next qualifier will be on Thursday, June 3, starting at 7 a.m. Pacific/16:00 CEST. The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event will happen from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players will battle for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. One player from each playoff qualifier will move on to the main event. There they will be joined by eight invited players: GM Humpy Koneru (IND), GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS), GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL), GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR), GM Irina Krush (USA), GM Kateryna Lagno (RUS), GM Lei Tingjie (CHN). Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
36 European players qualify for 2021 FIDE World Cup
The European Hybrid Qualification Tournament for the FIDE World Cup took place from May 24-30 on Tornelo online platform. All the federations had specially designated and approved venues supervised by local arbiters and monitored by cameras. The event brought together 264 players from 35 European federations. Playing venue – Greece After three rounds of knockout playoff 36 players punched their tickets to the 2021 Sochi FIDE World Cup: Vladislav Artemiev (RUS, 2709) Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS, 2706) Andrey Esipenko (RUS, 2701) Alexandr Predke (RUS, 2690) Maxim Matlakov (RUS, 2688) Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS, 2687) David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2673) Ivan Cheparinov (BUL, 2667) Sanan Sjugirov (RUS, 2663) Constantin Lupulescu (ROU, 2656) Grigoriy Oparin (RUS, 2652) Viktor Laznicka (CZE, 2647) Alexander Motylev (RUS, 2641) Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2637) Mustafa Yilmaz (TUR, 2630) Daniel Bogdan Deac (ROU, 2627) Pavel Ponkratov (RUS, 2624) Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2618) Evgeny Alekseev (RUS, 2617) Rasmus Svane (GER, 2615) Vadim Zvjaginsev (RUS, 2614) Arik Braun (GER, 2609) Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2607) Ivan Ivanisevic (SRB, 2606) Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2603) Michal Krasenkow (POL, 2597) Ante Brkic (CRO, 2592) Hovhannes Gabuzyan (ARM, 2590) Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2577) Can Emre (TUR, 2569) Luka Paichadze (GEO, 2565) Sasa Martinovic (CRO, 2548) Boris Savchenko (RUS, 2538) Nikita Afanasiev (RUS, 2522) Adam Kozak (HUN, 2518) Pawel Teclaf (POL, 2502) Playing venue – Russia Photo: Vladimir Barsky The event was dominated by the Russian players as 14 of them qualified for the FIDE World Cup taking place in their country. Armenia got 3 qualifiers, while Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Germany, Georgia, Poland and Romania earned two slots each. Bulgaria, Spain and Hungary got one ticket each. The 36 qualifiers took part in the European Hybrid World Cup Qualifier Swiss Tiebreaker – a 9-round Swiss tournament (10+3) held to distribute the €32,000 prize fund. Vladislav Artemiev (RUS, 2709) and Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2607) tied for first with the former coming out on top thanks to better tiebreaks. Pavel Ponkratov (RUS, 2624) shared third place with Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2637) and again tiebreaks favoured the Russian GM. All games at the event were broadcast live with commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and GM Marcin Tazbir.