Round 7: Black is more than OK
After another exciting day’s play and four decisive results, round seven of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at the Caleta Hotel on 29 May 2021 ended with Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan in the lead on 5½, Mariya Muzychuk in second place on 5, and Kateryna Lagno of Russia and Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan in joint third on 4½. In the race for the two places in the Candidates’ tournament, it was a good day for Humpy Koneru, watching from afar in India, and Kateryna Lagno, but a bad one for the other contenders, Nana Dzagnidze and Anna Muzychuk, who both lost with White and now have considerable ground to make up. Anna Muzychuk’s game with Dinara Saduakassova was an eventful battle. It started with an intriguing variation of the open Ruy Lopez, with Black sacrificing the exchange on move 24. On commentary, Veselin Topalov expressed some surprise about White’s 21.Ba2, as the light-squared bishop became vulnerable to the previously mentioned exchange sacrifice. He preferred 21.e6 followed by ideas such as Ne5. “Critical and natural,” as he put it. After the exchange sacrifice, Anna immediately went wrong with 26.Ra6, putting the rook seriously offside. Anna’s next move, 27.Ne5, left her kingside wide open to a wide range of tactics, although not so easy for humans to disentangle. However, Dinara soon hit on the best plan and finished the game in some style. This defeat put a severe dent in Anna’s hopes of qualifying for the Candidates’ tournament. As much as we feel sorry for her, we also have to be delighted for Dinara who has had a tough time in the first half of the tournament and has now recorded her first win. Nana Dzagnidze opened against co-leader Zhansaya Abdumalik with a London System (involving d4 and Bf4), which always used to be regarded as insipid but has now been in vogue for some years. On move 15 Zhansaya played 15…Qd8, allowing Nana to capture a pawn on b7. Zhansaya countered with 16…Nxd4 but the computers were flagging up 17.Bf1 as a strong reply. Nana opted for 17.Kf1 instead. Zhansaya was still walking a tightrope, but the Georgian failed to take advantage. Zhansaya deliberately conjured up a big mess on the board when Nana started getting short of time. Nana would still have been in the game had she found 24.Rcc4 but this was a deep computer game that no human could be expected to find. Thereafter the win was easy for Black. The result substantially increased the young Kazakhstani player’s chances of winning the tournament. A loss for Nana means her prospects of reaching the Candidates’ tournament have been affected. Humpy Koneru, no doubt following events in India, will be feeling that losses for Anna and Nana in this round have greatly increased her chances of playing in the Candidates’ event. Alina Kashlinskaya and Irina Bulmaga, both on 1½/6, had a discussion with a Bogo-Indian. One snag about the line chosen is that it gifts White the two bishops. Perhaps 15…Nxd2 was an improvement for Black. As played, White gained space and was able to follow her plan while Black had difficulty in unravelling her slightly cramped position. On move 30 Black might have been able to fight on but 30…Ng8 allowed a move forcing the win on the f7-pawn, after which White’s attack broke through quickly. Irina paid her opponent the courtesy of playing through to checkmate. Elisabeth Paehtz defended against Kateryna Lagno’s e4 with a Najdorf Sicilian, which usually results in some entertaining chess. However, Elisabeth settled for something more restrained and, as the material was exchanged, the game was soon headed for a quiet conclusion. Kateryna could still be well content with her day as her two rivals for the Candidates’ place, Nana and Anna, had lost with White. With four rounds remaining, she is a clear point ahead of Nana and 1½ points ahead of Anna, and her rivals need to overtake her to, not simply finish level with her. The battle of the former world champions, Mariya Muzychuk and Antoaneta Stefanova, started in a strange way with an unusual treatment of the Queen’s Gambit for Black by Antoaneta. Her fellow countryman Veselin Topalov, making his debut as commentator today, admitted on commentary that he didn’t understand Antoaneta’s plan of 3…a6 followed by 5…Nc6. He also questioned moves such as 8…f5 and 9…h5, weakening the dark squares. Mariya held a stable plus, but much depended on the e4 break, which she opted for as soon as it became feasible on move 19. The position soon looked miserable for Black when White lodged a knight on f4 and menacing a number of weak white squares in the Black camp. Antoaneta later admitted she was lost, though there were still some complications. Then, just as the players reached the time control, Mariya allowed a trick. Antoaneta checked with the queen, sacrificed a rook on b2, and then infiltrated the white camp with her queen. At first sight, it didn’t look like a perpetual check as the queen was only supported by a pawn on c4. But perpetual check it proved to be and Antoaneta had escaped with a draw. The longest game of the day, Valentina Gunina, playing White against Gunay Mammadzada, saw the Russian GM play a restrained line, the Closed Sicilian, against Gunay’s 1…c5. Commentator Veselin Topalov wasn’t sure about Gunay’s plan of 8…h5, though Stockfish seems to favour it. Valentina opted for a queenside thrust with 12.b4, which looked promising but needed to be followed up accurately. Soon the game became complicated and descended into a slugging match. Eventually, Gunay emerged with extra material after Valentina blundered with 47.Be2. In desperation, Valentina sacrificed a second piece to create chaos, but it didn’t really work and Gunay could return one piece and retained a stable material advantage. Still, Valentina fought on, as she always does, but Gunay didn’t buckle under the pressure of having to play purely on the increment. Valentina is a tough fighter but she finally had to call it a day on move 96. Another excellent
Vaishali R. wins Qualifier II
WGM Vaishali R. became the second player to qualify for the main event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. She is the second player from India to make it to the final stage of this prestigious online competition. This qualifier was a 9-round Swiss tournament (3+1 time control), with the top eight finishers advancing to the knockout playoff stage. In the semifinals, Vaishali R. defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva 2-0, whereas Polina Shuvalova (Russia) who had reached semis the day before made it one step further this time after besting Karina Ambartsumova by the same score 2-0. The final started with a drama in the first game – the Indian GM completely outplayed her Russian opponent in a knight-vs.-bishop endgame with black pieces but lost on time in an absolutely winning position (most likely due to some connectivity issue). With her back against the wall, Vaishali R. launched a furious attack in game two, checkmated Black’s king and levelled the score. The third and final game turned into a roller-coaster. The Indian obtained a very promising position from the opening but spoiled it by hastily sacrificing her queen for a rook and minor piece. Polina seemed in full control but then she made a terrible blunder in mutual time scramble that cost her dearly. Vaishali emerged up a rook and sealed her spot in the main event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. The next qualifier will happen on Sunday, May 30 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 June 10-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.
Shamsiddin Vokhidov clinches Asian Hybrid Championship title
Shamsiddin Vokhidov became the winner of the Asian Individual Hybrid Chess Championship. The 19-year old from Uzbekistan (pictured below) scored 7 out of 9 tied for first place with IM Tin Jingyao (Singapore) but came out on top thanks to better tiebreaks (average rating of the opponents). The champion beat a leader Temour Kuybokarov in a critical Round 8 clash and then drew the last round game with Tin Jingyao. The event, a 9-round Swiss tournament took place from May 21-29 on Tornelo platform. The top seven finishers qualified for the FIDE World Cup, which will be held in Sochi, Russia (July 2021). Photo: Galina Popova It is worth noting that the top-rated player Parham Maghsoodloo did not make the cut, whereas Tin Jingyao (ranked 19) and Mohamad Ervan (ranked 36) caused a minor sensation and punched the tickets to Sochi. Given that Temur Kuybokarov and Nodirbek Yakubboev qualified for the FIDE World Cup 2021 via Zonal 3.6 and 3.4 respectively, Sugar Gan-Erdene (Mongolia) and Lu Shanglei (China) who finished just outside of top-7 also can pack their bags for the trip to Russia. Since the Indian players were unable to take part in the tournament due to the pandemic and new restrictions, one spot in the FIDE Word Cup is granted for the Indian Chess Federation. Final standings: 1 GM Vokhidov, Shamsiddin UZB 2529 7 2 IM Tin, Jingyao SGP 2482 7 3 GM Kuybokarov, Temur AUS 2549 6½ 4 GM Tabatabaei, Amin IRI 2613 6½ 5 GM Yakubboev, Nodirbek UZB 2605 6½ 6 IM Ervan, Mohamad INA 2356 6½ 7 GM Sindarov, Javokhir UZB 2544 6½ 8 IM Gan-Erdene, Sugar MGL 2419 6 9 GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2615 6
From “flashcards” to Chessable
We’ve received many congratulations and positive words about FIDE’s new partnership with Chessable, the world’s leading and largest chess e-learning platform. However, for those of you not yet familiar with our new sponsors, we would like to share a bit more about Chessable and their mission to help make learning chess more fun and efficient, while making chess education a more professional and sustainable career for all. These are values that both FIDE and Chessable share, making them a perfect partner for FIDE in the years to come. Chessable’s staff consists of certified chess coaches, grandmasters and scientists in the field of educational psychology. Chessable’s CEO David Kramaley himself is a published scientific author on the topic of chess improvement. So, what is Chessable? Chessable.com is a comprehensive and social learning website that offers interactive chess courses with and without video instruction on all possible areas of expertise such as openings, endgames, tactics, strategy and more. Chessable also offers interactive versions of classic chess books built on top of its unique MoveTrainer™ software. Chessable’s online library of courses has quickly grown to be one of the largest in the world with hundreds of exclusive courses free and paid, by top players and coaches, including world champion Magnus Carlsen. What makes Chessable different and unique? With its MoveTrainer™ software, Chessable utilizes two main concepts – spaced repetitions/scheduling and gamification – and relies on a scientific approach. How does it work? By now, we think the story of the Polgar family’s famous private flashcard system, the “cartothec”, is no longer a secret in the chess world. It was a key part of the Polgar sisters’ tremendously successful training regimen. Photo courtesy of the Polgar family In many ways, Chessable has taken this classic idea of “flashcards” to a whole new level. On Chessable everything is an interactive flashcard. Opening lines, endgame positions, tactics, and grandmaster games are given to students as part of an online curriculum, a course. Sometimes the student starts by copying the moves shown and is then asked to repeat them to show he has learned them. At other times the student is quizzed to show what he has already learned. All of the student’s progress is stored on the site and served back in timed intervals until the student can play the moves perfectly. Students can earn points and badges for their progress making the act of studying itself a game! Chessable saves coaches and students alike enormous amounts of time by having all of the positions already preloaded on the site making it instantly accessible and instantly trainable. “My experience with the Chessable digital version of 100 Endgames You Must Know (by New In Chess) was highly favourable. Because I’m a data nut, I can tell you exactly how long it took me to go through the paper version in 2008, setting the board included: 88 hours. That doesn’t include positions I photocopied and carried with me, but actual sit-down time with the book and board. The Chessable version has taken me 34 hours (and change), and I’ve gone through the book more than 9 times already. The degree of efficiency, not having to deal with setting up the board, is outrageous”, says David Milliern, a Chessable student. To top it off, most authors on Chessable are active on the site and readily answer questions by students and coaches in the comments section under the trainable positions, making the study experience both a social and an educationally complete tool for anyone interested to improve. FIDE Official Chess Learning Partner
Harika Dronavalli wins Qualifier I
Harika Dronavalli (India) became the first player to qualify for the Main Event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, after beating Le Thao Nguyen Pham (Vietnam) in the final of the Qualifier I playoffs on May 28. This qualifier was a 9-round Swiss tournament (5+1 time control), with the top eight finishers advancing to the knockout playoff stage. In the semifinals, Harika defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan (1.5-0.5) whereas Le Thao Nguyen Pham broke down the resistance of Polina Shuvalova (Russia) only in the third game to advance into the final. It was all Dronavalli in the final who convincingly outplayed her Vietnamese opponent in both games and secured her spot in the Main Event of the 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. “It feels really good. Since we have so many qualifiers you don’t know when you actually qualify and you have to work hard every day. So it is very good to qualify on Day 1” said the happy winner in a short interview after the final Qualifier II will be on May 29 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 June 10-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.
Ahmed Adly and Jesse February win African Chess Championship
The Egyptian Chess Players dominated the 2021 African Individual Chess Championship, taking four top places in the open section. The event was held from May 17-28, 2021 in Lilongwe (Malawi). The last championship took place in 2019 before the pandemic. The defending champion, GM Ahmed Adly retained his title in fierce competition with his compatriots. He scored an equal amount of points (8/9) with his fellow countryman and the top-rated participant GM Amin Bassem, but the tiebreaks (average rating of the opponents) favoгred the second-rated player of the competition. GM Fawzy Adham and GM Hesham Abdelrahman (both Egypt) finished in third and fourth places respectively. All four qualified for FIDE the FIDE World Cup 2021 that will take place in Sochi, Russia from July 10, 2021, to August 3, 2021. Final standings open: 1 Adly Ahmed EGY 2615 8 2 Amin Bassem EGY 2701 8 3 Fawzy Adham EGY 2473 7½ 4 Hesham Abdelrahman EGY 2400 6½ 5 Mwale Joseph MAW 2148 6 6 Bellahcene Bilel ALG 2508 6 7 Chipanga Chiletso MAW 2043 6 8 Bwalya Gillan ZAM 2405 6 9 Silva David ANG 2296 6 10 Barrish Daniel RSA 2306 6 In the women’s section, WIM Jesse Nikki February emerged as the winner. The 24-year old from South Africa clinched the championship, finishing a half-point ahead of her main rivals. This result also earns her the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title – she needs to fulfill FIDE title requirements, by attaining the rating of 2100. WIM Lina Nassr tied for second with WIM Ayah Moaataz but took silver thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings women: 1 WIM February, Jesse Nikki RSA 7 2 WIM Nassr, Lina ALG 6½ 3 WIM Moaataz, Ayah EGY 6½ 4 WFM Mwango, Lorita ZAM 6 5 WGM Wafa, Shahenda EGY 6 6 WCM Charinda, Kudzanayi ZIM 6 7 Shriyan, Santosh MAW 5½ 8 WFM Marape, Naledi BOT 5½ 9 WFM Mongeli, Sasha KEN 5½ 10 WFM Staal Michaela Francis RSA 5½ The Closing Ceremony of the 2021 African Individual Chess Championships took place on Thursday 27th May 2021 at Golden Peacock Hotel, Lilongwe. In attendance were Ulemu Msungama, Malawi’s Minister of Youth and Sport; Kezzie Msukwa, Malawi’s Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development; Lewis Ncube, President, African Chess Confederation, Susan Namangale President of Chess Association of Malawi and many more dignitaries. Kudos to the African Chess Confederation (ACC) and Chess Association of Malawi on the successful organization of the 2021 African Individual Chess Championships. Our sincere appreciation goes to Mrs. Susan Namangale and the media department at the AICC for providing us with pictures of the event. Text: Fawole John Oyeyemi, bruvschessmedia.com
“The Queens’ Festival”: Connecting Women in Chess
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, will start on June 11, 2021. The festival organized by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in cooperation with the FIDE Events Commission and with the support of the Asian Chess Federation, African Chess Confederation, European Chess Union, and Confederation of Chess for Americas is a unique all-inclusive event aiming at developing a strong global community of women in chess and enhancing the participation of women in all aspects of chess life. Built on the recent success and appeal of the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit”, this event promotes female players, organizers, arbiters, influencers, leaders, and rising stars of all levels, backgrounds and countries. 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. You can view the Regulations here. Registrations for the tournaments are made by the National Federations by filling this Excel file and sending it to the organizers’ email address: queensfestival@fide.com For those interested in various chess-related topics, we 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. Registration for side events is here. More information about the event can be found at queensfestival.fide.com We invite all female chess enthusiasts to participate, play, learn and connect. Doing what we love, together we can make a difference in our global chess community! Eva Repkova, Chair of FIDE WOM Commission
Round 6: Valentina’s vultures
Zhansaya Abdumalik (KAZ) and Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) are the co-leaders going into the rest day of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix which took place at the Caleta Hotel on 27 May 2021. Zhansaya and Mariya drew their game to move to 4½ out of 6, and are followed by Kateryna Lagno (RUS) on 4. The round started quietly but we were in for a rousing finale when Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) and Valentina Gunina (RUS) played out an exciting second session. We’ll save it for last. The first game to finish was a quiet draw in a Grünfeld between Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) and Kateryna Lagno (RUS). Dinara has had a tough tournament and perhaps wants to refocus on the rest day and see what she can achieve in the final five rounds. Kateryna is playing cautiously, with one eye on her rivals for the Candidates’ place that is sure to be available from the Gibraltar tournament. A second draw was sealed in the game between Antoaneta Stefanova and Anna Muzychuk. This started life as a QGD, with some resemblance to a 2.c3 Sicilian in due course. A cagey game ensured, with both players steering clear danger. The third game to end was the clash between the two tournament leaders, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Mariya Muzychuk. In Rossolimo Sicilian, both players castled kingside, with Mariya (Black) advancing her kingside pawns nevertheless, and Zhansaya countering in the centre. Material gradually disappeared from the board and the players agreed to a draw as the game moved towards a level rook endgame. Finally, after around three hours’ play, we saw a couple of decisive outcomes. I think it’s fair to say that both came as a result of blunders and perhaps some tiredness after six solid days of uncompromising chess. Alina Kashlinskaya, after playing a Petroff Defence, miscalculated a long variation and was stunned when Gunay Mammadzada played a temporary queen sacrifice to win material. Or perhaps Alina missed an intermezzo check in an even longer variation. This was another blow for the Russian player who has had a nightmare tournament. Let’s hope she can recover after the rest day. At the same time, we must congratulate Gunay for her tactical opportunism and energetic play. She followed up her win of material accurately and efficiently. Nana Dzagnidze tried an unusual line of the Sicilian against Irina Bulmaga and it paid off handsomely as she emerged with a comfortable position from the opening. Nana said she didn’t like Irina’s move 10.Qd3. It was interesting that analysis engines disagreed with her at first, but then came round to Nana’s way of thinking after a few more moves. Nana felt confident she was better after she placed her bishop on e5. Irina’s position kept worsening the move and she tried a piece sacrifice with 20.Bxd5, but it achieved little and the rest of the game proved to be a technical mopping up operation. The game of the day was also the longest. Elisabeth Paehtz’s encounter with Valentina Gunina began with an unusual line of the Caro-Kann. After queens were exchanged, Elisabeth emerged with a spatial advantage which she maintained well into the middlegame. Her prospects looked promising but then she played 32.b6. This might have been a little hasty as Valentina responded with a very clever exchange for pawn sacrifice which received the analysis engine’s seal of approval. As the players reached the time control, Black was arguably a little better, with two passed pawns ably supported by two bishops. The game still might have turned out a draw, but Elisabeth made a further mistake and Valentina’s demon bishops started to menace her king like vultures. White’s king found itself herded to the side of the board as the black bishops and rook circled. The problem for Elisabeth was that she was so short of time and her defensive moves rather harder to find than Valentina’s attacking ones. Sure enough, as her time ebbed away, Valentina found a way through Elisabeth’s various tactical tricks to escape the net and mated the white king. It was an exhausting game for both players. Even in victory, Valentina was still in shock as she left the playing hall and didn’t utter a word until I began the interview. Candidates Tournament: Qualification Possibilities As we reach the halfway mark of the tournament, it’s time to give consideration to the principal reward of the Women’s Grand Prix series: qualification for the Candidates Tournament. The full current standings after three tournaments can be found here. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS), with 398 points, has already secured the top place in the Grand Prix but she has also qualified for the Candidates via a different route as world championship runner-up. So that means the two people to qualify for the Candidates via the Grand Prix will be numbers two and three in the Grand Prix overall points table. Before the Gibraltar tournament, Humpy Koneru, who is not playing here, was in second place with 293 points. Three Gibraltar contestants, Nana Dzagnidze (180), Kateryna Lagno (180) and Anna Muzychuk (165) can still pass her score with a first or second place, but that would only push the Indian grandmaster down to third place, which still qualifies. Thus it would need two of the above names to finish first and second or share first place, to deprive Humpy Koneru of a spot in the Candidates. Another Gibraltar non-participant, Alexandra Kosteniuk, currently has 193 Grand Prix points to be in third place. But, to qualify, she would need all three Gibraltar participants cited above to score fewer than 13 points. Sadly for Alexandra, this is not mathematically possible as the player who finishes last in Gibraltar scores 10 Grand Prix points but, fatal to Alexandra’s aspirations, the 11th placed finisher scores 20 points. Even if two of the above players were to tie for last, they would still score 15 points each and overtake Alexandra. This means that at least one player currently in the Gibraltar line-up must overtake Alexandra and qualify for the Candidates from Gibraltar. Together with Nana, Kateryna and Anna, a fourth player in the line-up has a theoretical chance of qualifying for
FIDE Chess.com WSCC kicks off on May 28
The FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship starts on May 28. The tournament, organized by the International Chess Federation and Chess.com, will consist of qualifiers held until June 6 and the main event from June 10 to July 3. Players will battle for their share of $66,000, the highest-ever prize fund for a women’s online competition.$58,000 will be allocated to the main event with $20,000 going to the winner and $12,000 to the runner-up. The first of the eight qualifiers of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship will start this Friday at 7:00 a.m. PT (16:00 CEST). The events are Swiss Tournaments open to all titled female players (FIDE titles only). The participants can register by navigating to the upcoming tournaments tab located at Chess.com/live up to one hour before each qualifier begins. The eight top-finishing players from each Titled Swiss event will advance to a knockout Playoff Qualifier, which will happen right after each Swiss tournament is over. The participants will face each other in the 16-player brackets under three different time controls – rapid, blitz and bullet. 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.
Round 5: Zhansaya and Mariya hold the Lead
After round five of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix played at the Caleta Hotel on 26 May 2021, two players share the lead on 4/5 points: Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan) and Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine). Two players, Kateryna Lagno (Russia) and Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany) have 3½ points. The round was opened by Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar. After welcoming the players and complimenting the organisers on a ‘very impressive’ layout for the tournament, he expressed the wish that one day a Gibraltarian flag would appear alongside one of the competitors, who would compete alongside the top women’s world championship contenders. It wasn’t long before one of the games started to go downhill for one of the players. Antoaneta Stefanova came badly unstuck against Zhansaya Abdumalik’s Scotch Opening. Her 10…Bd6 was a grave error, and the young Kazakh player took full advantage, forcing the win of her opponent’s queen for two minor pieces, followed by a brisk mopping-up exercise. This took the overnight co-leader to 4/5 and threw down the gauntlet to her two main rivals to try and catch her. Another overnight leader, Kateryna Lagno, was unable to follow suit, despite having a promising position from an Italian Opening against Anna Muzychuk. Kateryna should perhaps have reacted more directly with 23.Qxe4 but she still managed to annex a pawn on move 25. However, Anna had calculated that she might have sufficient positional compensation for the material and so it proved. Kateryna returned the pawn to secure a drawn position. Alina Kashlinkskaya is having a nightmare tournament. For the third time in five games, she let a winning advantage slip and lost. At first, it seemed that her opponent, Elisabeth Paehtz, was suffering a bad dream as she played a calamitous move, 9…Nfd7, in a QGD Tarrasch Defence, allowing her opponent a combination leading to a big plus. Elisabeth was unable to castle and her rooks couldn’t connect, so the resourceful German player hit on a plan of developing her entombed rook via the h-file. Later analysis revealed that it should not have been successful but mutual time trouble led to a chaotic position in which Elisabeth gradually gained the upper hand. By the time control, poor Alina was looking at a wreck of a position and a material deficit. After a few mating tries were rebuffed, she was forced to resign. All credit, though, to Elisabeth who, not for the first time in this tournament, rode her luck and displayed her resourcefulness. The three remaining games were long and hard-fought. Gunay Mammadzara plays some of the most exciting chess of the players present in Gibraltar and she gave Nana Dzagnidze a really good fight, coming close to a win. The opening was a Semi-Slav and Gunay managed to isolate and put pressure on Nana’s d-pawn. She also opened up lines against the white king on h2 and might have missed a couple of tactical shots (e.g. 25…gxh3 and if 26.gxh3 then 26…Bxh3!) along the way when in her habitual time trouble. Nana too might have missed some counter-chances such as 38 Qb4 to wrest the initiative. Eventually, it came down to Gunay’s three pawns against Nana’s knight and nothing, but the only possible result was a draw. The remaining two games boiled down to rook and pawn endgames, both of which were won by the player with the extra pawn. Valentina Gunina told us she had been instructed to be more circumspect by her coach rather than overindulging tactics, and this proved a sage move. The opening was a Queen’s Indian (or possibly a Bogo-Indian) and Dinara Saduakassova was unable to mount a sufficiently active counterplay, soon being tied to the defense of a weak d-pawn. After the time control the pawn dropped off and, with some careful, patient play, Valentina was able to create a passed e-pawn and also infiltrate her king at b5, after which the fight was over. Mariya Muzychuk quickly secured a slight but persistent edge against Irina Bulmaga in Rossolimo Sicilian, but she felt that Irina might have put up a more solid defense had she played 19…Kf6 rather than 19…Kd7. As played, White was quickly able to gain an extra pawn when, despite a few technical problems, the endgame also looked likely to be a winning one. Mariya thus joined Zhansaya as an overnight leader on 4/5. The two leaders, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Mariya Muzychuk clash in round six on Thursday 27 May at 15.00 GMT+2 with Nigel Short and Fiona Steil-Antoni providing the commentary. The rest day is on Friday 28 May, after which former world champion Veselin Topalov takes over commentary duties from Nigel Short. Standings after Round 4: 1-2. Zhansaya Abdumalik, Mariya Muzychuk –4; 3-4. Elisabeth Paehtz, Kateryna Lagno – 3½; 5-7. Gunay Mammadzada, Nana Dzagnidze, Anna Muzychuk – 2½; 8-9. Antoaneta Stefanova, Valentina Gunina – 2; 10-11. Irina Bulmaga, Alina Kashlinskaya – 1½; 12. Dinara Saduakassova – ½ Text: John Saunders Photo: John Saunders and David Llada