Press release by FIDE
After being around for many years, I have come to realize that elite chess players possess two principal qualities: the capacity to fight till the end in lost positions and the capability to recover fast from a painful loss.
This afternoon, without any doubt the most interesting round of all the Women GPs that I have attended, Humpy Koneru was on the verge of losing several times against Alina Kashlinskaya, who hadn't won a game in Pune. But the Indian grandmaster kept fighting, defending as best as possible, and she finally reaped the reward – a draw, keeping her options to win the event open.
On the other board, Zhu Jiner played an impressive game against Divya Deshmukh, after losing yesterday to Humpy. Her recovery was uncanny – from losing the lead and even the chance to win, to a situation in which she is tied for first with one game to go.
No fewer than three ceremonial first moves were performed on Tuesday, on different boards and with the white pieces. Mr. Ajay Patel, Senior Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association, opened the game for Salome Melia; Mr. Dev Patel, Secretary of the All Indian Chess Federation, opened for Batkhuyag Munguntuul; and finally Dr. Ravindra Dange, Commisioner of the Pune IRS, opened for Zhu Jiner.
The final round will be played on Wednesday's afternoon. The key pairings are Humpy v. Nurgyul Salimova and Polina Shuvalova v. Zhu Jiner. Anything can happen, and we will be here to report it!
Let's take a closer look at Tuesday's games.
Round 8 results
Humpy Koneru is sharing the lead with Zhu Jiner | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
Zhu prepared the Four Knights Glek system with 4.g3. For many moves, they followed a recent 2024 game between Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Anish Giri.
After the opening, Black's bishop was stranded out of the game on a6 and White also controlled the fantastic e4-square, but Divya was preparing a strong attack on the kingside.
After a couple of inaccuracies, Zhu sacrificed a piece for three pawns with 26.Nxe5!, entering a totally winning ending.
Divya was forced to give back the piece in order to avoid white pawn's promotion, but to no avail: with a 96% accuracy score, Zhu took the game home.
"I feel happy today, especially since I lost yesterday" were Zhu's first words in her post-game interview. Check it out here!
The Polish number one player missed out on an opportunity to win her first game of the event, and at the same time take down the leader.
The opening was a classic 5.d3 Anderssen variation of the Ruy Lopez. Alina obtained a small edge in space going out of the opening, but Humpy managed to equalise.
At a certain point, Humpy started to play hesitantly (first 16…c6? and then 19…Ra7?) and ended up in a passive position with very little space. Alina gradually took control, installing a huge knight on d6. She achieved a decisive advantage and also Humpy was very low on time.
Kashlinskaya forced the exchange of queens, went into a totally winning endgame, and then this occurred.
White's position is won very easily with 49.Rdd5, defending everything, and Alina was about to play this move, but changed her mind and chose 49.Rb7?, a blunder that cost her the win. Humpy exchanged rooks and played 50…Nc5, picking up the pawn on b7, and a draw was agreed a few moves later.
Even though she was visibly frustrated, Kashlinskaya came to the media centre to give us her thoughts on what had happened. A true professional.
The game began as a Triangle Slav. With 7.b3!? (essentially a novelty in the position), Salimova sacrificed a pawn for a lead in development and control over the centre.
She had excellent positional compensation in the middlegame: the bishop pair and optimal squares for her pieces. However, with 29.Qe1?? she missed a tactic and after 29…Nd3! Black was already better.
A few moves later Vaishali sacrificed her rook to get a decisive advantage, but in acute time trouble she couldn't find the way to win and ended up forcing a perpetual check.
Nurgyul Salimova | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
The first game to cross 100 moves in the Grand Prix – a testament to the fighting spirit of the players.
The game saw the Duras Variation of Ruy Lopez (5.d3 + 6.c4). They followed a 2018 Tiviakov v. Ernst game for many moves, although Harika spent more time in the opening, maybe slightly surprised by her opponent's choice.
With 14.0-0, Salome sacrificed a pawn for the attack and better development, and rightly so: her opponent's castled king was very weak.
At the key moment, however, Salome went for 27.e6?, which looks good but is not the best move (27.Qh4 keeps up the attack), and suddenly it was Black who was playing for the win.
However, in heavy time trouble, with both players under two minutes, the game evened out and a draw was agreed after 116 moves.
Check out Salome Melia's post-game interview.
Munguntuul went for the 6.Be3 + 7.Nf3 Najdorf English Attack, following the game Naiditsch v. Moussard from 2022. The fight for the d5-square was the key idea in the opening, but Shuvalova played excellently and ended up with a very comfortable position going into the middlegame, with double the time of her rival on the clock.
Shuvalova steadily increased her positional advantage and won a pawn in a tactical skirmish just before move forty, profiting from Munguntuul's time trouble. But despite Polina's best effort, she was unable to break down her opponent's defences, and a draw was agreed on move ninety-one.
Polina Shuvalova | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
| Advertising |
.jpeg)
