FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Shymkent Round 4: Tan, Goryachkina, and Koneru Lead

Tournament Information

The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024/25 consists of six tournaments that grant the top two finishers spots in the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2026. Each of these six tournaments is a 10-player round robin. Twenty players have qualified for the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024/25, and each player is allowed to play in three of the six tournaments based on the players' preferences concerning which tournaments they would like to participate in. The first tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia was played August 15–24; the Shymkent Grand Prix is the second tournament of the series.

The Lichess broadcast coverage can be found here.

Schedule

Leaderboard

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina vs. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou 1-0

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina played a fine positional game against IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, outplaying her opponent in the Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack of the Sicilian Defense. First, she undeveloped her bishop on move 16, then her knight on move 22 — it was all in the name of repositioning her pieces to better squares. Tsolakidou was not yet lost, but she had a very tough position to defend, which she did not manage to do.

GM Koneru Humpy vs. IM Nurgyul Salimova 1-0

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

IM Nurgyul Salimova played the enterprising 16...g5, which looked quite risky, but she was not immediately punished by GM Koneru Humpy. In fact, after some inaccurate moves by Koneru, Salimova was just fine, eventually getting the bishop pair for rook and two pawns. Salimova’s king was unsafe, though, and she eventually succumbed to strong rook pressure from Koneru.

GM Kateryna Lagno vs. IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul 0-1

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul remains drawless as she played yet another decisive game in the fourth round. Munguntuul once again played her trusty Caro-Kann Defense, and GM Kateryna Lagno went for the Advance Variation. Lagno maintained her opening advantage for a while, but she was too optimistic and went for the ultimately incorrect 16. h4. To refute Lagno’s play, Munguntuul had to find a strong piece regrouping, starting with 17...Kf7!. Munguntuul’s rooks slowly made their way into the game and their placement made perfect sense, while Lagno had to contend with a powerful attacking storm. Lagno soon had to give up her queen to defend, but at that point her position was lost.

IM Divya Deshmukh vs. GM Tan Zhongyi 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Tan Zhongyi survived a minor but potentially costly scare against IM Divya Deshmukh. The King’s Indian Defense was once again featured in this tournament, and Divya went for a solid line, after which the game seemed to be headed toward a draw. However, Tan blundered with 34...f6??, and Divya blundered right back with 35. Rb5??. Instead, 35. Bb5 was better. As it stood, the players soon drew what was an overall solid game.

GM Elisabeth Paehtz vs. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

Some lines of the Alapin can be quite forced and involve a lot of piece trades. GM Elisabeth Paehtz and IM Bibisara Assaubayeva both did not want to take unnecessary risks and played the line to its logical conclusion: a draw.

Round 5 Pairings