FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Shymkent Round 6: Goryachkina Maintains Full Point 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. GM Elisabeth Paehtz 1-0

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina couldn't have reached a better position out of the opening against GM Elisabeth Paehtz. As she was in the sole lead, Goryachkina definitely did not mind having a solid, stable position out of her chosen Tarrasch Variation of the French Defense. With the very enterprising pseudo-pawn sacrifice 15. b4, Goryachkina played powerfully to realize her advantage. GM Elisabeth Paehtz defended well for a long time, though, and just when the game seemed to be headed to a draw, Paehtz blundered in the opposite-colored bishop endgame.

GM Tan Zhongyi vs. IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul 1-0

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Tan Zhongyi made great use of the rest day as she bounced back after her round 6 loss with an important win against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul, who, as we've been saying for the past 3 rounds, remains drawless! The game started off quietly enough with the Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, which was not at all calm as GM Tan Zhongyi castled on opposite sides of the board and ran her h-pawn down the kingside. The queens were soon traded, however, and Tan's advantage became more stable and long-lasting. The game went on for a long time and Munguntuul eventually blundered in time pressure, resigning on move 68.

GM Koneru Humpy vs. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou 0-1

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou's King's Indian Defense has been a perfect choice as both her opponents in rounds 3 and 6 did not try to refute, or at least play the main lines, against her fighting opening choice. GM Koneru Humpy played a safe line against the King's Indian Defense, but her safety-first approach came back to haunt her as Tsolakidou played dynamically and achieved a strong pawn on d4. In typical King's Indian Defense fashion, Tsolakidou sacrificed an exchange and won positional advantage after positional advantage, eventually dominating the entire board and forcing Humpy to resign.

GM Kateryna Lagno vs. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva 1-0

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Kateryna Lagno's form has not been the best, but her class is clearly still there: for example, in her first round game against an in-form GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. Today, she converted the good position she had out of the opening and played an amazing attack, which started with pushing the h-pawn. It was almost surprising how quickly IM Bibisara Assaubayeva's position collapsed; Lagno truly played a very accurate attack. For her part, Assaubayeva definitely did not want to lose, but she still has chances to win more Grand Prix points and improve her standing in the upcoming rounds.

IM Divya Deshmukh vs. IM Nurgyul Salimova 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

Draws, as always, don't tell the full story of a chess game. While IM Divya Deshmukh and IM Nurgyul Salimova never strayed too far away from equality, their game was a fighting one. A lot of piece trades, though, did occur and the game was soon drawn.

Round 7 Pairings