All four games played in the first round of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi ended with a draw. IM Vaishali R won on default after Elisabeth Paehtz decided to withdraw from the tournament
Bharat Singh Chauhan, Chairman of FIDE’s Advisory Board and Secretary of the All India Chess Federation made the ceremonial first move in the game between Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli, in the inaugural round of the New Delhi Women’s Grand Prix.
“This is a huge event for women’s chess and chess in India. We should all look at the broader picture and acknowledge all the efforts made to organise this event and to help boost women’s chess both in India and globally. It’s not easy to find sponsors today given the global situation, but we, FIDE are committed”, Bharat Singh said.
The round started at 3 PM local time, as planned. Shortly before the round, Elisabeth Paehtz sent a letter to FIDE announcing her decision to withdraw from the tournament.
Save for a relatively peaceful draw between the top two Indian players, all other games were fought to (an almost bitter) end.
Polina Shuvalova – Kateryna Lagno: Sharp meets aggressive
Polina Shuvalova and Kateryna Lagno drew their game after much tension on the board and time trouble.
Following 1.d4, Lagno played the King’s Indian Defence. Shuvalova opted for a sharp line, advancing her pawn on h4 to which Lagno responded by opening the centre and going for the Benko Gambit.
White went for an exchange of queens thinking that Black’s weaker pawn structure will provide enough opportunities for an initiative. However, Black had enough play for her pieces. Instead of waiting for Shuvalova to act on her initiative, Lagno also played actively and aggressively, countering White.
After further exchanges in the centre, Shuvalova had two pawns on the kingside and was able to target Black’s exposed king.
However, Lagno was able to find the counter initiative by bringing her rook to the second rank. Both players ended up in time trouble. After exchanges in the centre and on the left flank, the position was even and the two agreed to draw their game.
In the post-game interview, both players said they are happy with the start and are optimistic about their tournament.
Humpy Koneru – Harika Dronavalli: A peaceful draw
The Indian derby between Humpy Konery and Harika Dronavalli ended in a peaceful draw. Dronavalli opted for the Gruenfeld defence which, as she said, “might have been a surprise” for her opponent. Humpy went for a lesser-known line. As the moves progressed both players achieved a solid position and the game was equal. After transpiring into an equal rook endgame the players agreed on a draw after 31 moves.
Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina: A missed chance for Zhu
Zhu Jiner missed a huge chance to settle a score with Aleksandra Goryachkina, who defeated her in Astana as black, in the first leg of the Grand Prix.
This was a duel between two leaders of the ongoing Women’s Grand Prix series. Zhu currently holds the second position in the overall standings. However, emerging from Astana with a commendable second-place finish, Goryackhina has secured her status as a top contender for the top of the Grand Prix cycle. Notably, this is only her second tournament in the cycle, adding a thrilling element of unpredictability to the competition.
Following 2.e4 by Zhu, the two quickly entered the Berlin defence, a popular line among the chess elite. Zhu went straight for an exchange path, leading to a typical Berlin endgame. An interesting choice given Goryachkina is well-known for her excellence in endgames.
Goryachkina tried to exchange a pair of knights and get more space for the bishops, but Zhu declined, centralising her knight and gradually increasing her initiative.
Following the exchange of pieces, in an even position, the key opening for White appeared.
Here Zhu played 31.Rf1 – a timely move pinning the f7 pawn. While this move didn’t bring anything huge immediately, it set the foundation for White’s path to victory.
Following some positional maneuvering, a set of exchanges happened and Goryachkina made a mistake on move 39, taking the rook on f7.
Zhu made a dominating position and was winning. Created a 2:1 advantage. Despite being in a difficult position Goryachkina resisted and, eventually, it paid off.
In this position, instead of playing 60.Be5, with the idea of pushing her g-pawn and then moving in with the king on black’s pawns, Zhu played 60.Kf4, allowing Black to exchange pawns on c4 and place her bishop on d4 offering a poisonous exchange.
Finally, after more than five hours of play, the two agreed to a draw.
Nana Dzagnidze – Nino Batsiashvili: Ups and downs
Nana and Nino are two members of the highly successful Georgian women’s team. Between them, Nana has a better score, but in an event such as the Grand Prix that might not mean anything.
Batsiashvili, who generally plays the Queen’s Indian Defence, today went for the Queen’s Gambit Declined, hoping to surprise her opponent. In the Catalan variation – which generally gives white a small initiative in most cases – the two created stable positions. However, Batsiashvili was the one who took more initiative. However, it didn’t work out.
The first(!) breaking point of the game occurred on move 30.
In time pressure Batsiashvili played 30…Rb5, directly forcing her to give up her queen.
However, after 31. Rd2 Qd2 32. Bd2 Rd2 Nana returned the favour and now she was the one to blunder. She decided to take with the rook on c5, which enabled Black to exchange a pair of rooks and then collect two pawns on the second file. In time trouble Dzagnidze ended up giving all her pawns on the kingside in an attempt to open up the black king for checks. In the process, she ended up with a naked king, a queen and an a3 pawn.
Now it was Batsiashvili who had the upper hand, having reached the time control and achieving a strong advantage. However, in time trouble, she couldn’t find the right plan forward and eventually, the two agreed on a draw after move repetition.
In the post-game interview, both players were asked to comment on how they deal with such huge ups and downs which happen in a game. The answer both gave: “You just play on because you have to, and that’s it”.
The second round of the third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix is due to start on Monday, 27th March, at 3 PM local time.
The pairings of the second round are:
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Bibisara Assaubayeva
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Nana Dzagnidze
Harika Dronavalli – Zhu Jiner
Polina Shuvalova – Humpy Koneru
Kateryna Lagno and Nino Batsiashvili have a free day.
Press-officer: Milan Dinic
Phtographer: Ismael Nieto
