FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Shymkent Round 7: Goryachkina Close To Double Hat-Trick

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

IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul vs. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina 0-1

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

There is a simplicity that comes with perfect chess. In days of yore, José Raúl Capablanca's chess was labeled as genius because it was so simple yet so elegant. Today, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina achieved such perfection as she played an attacking masterpiece in the Sveshnikov. First, Goryachkina got rid of her d5 weakness by forcing IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul to capture on d5 with her own pawn. Goryachkina's massive central pawn mass then got rolling, and as Munguntuul played on the queenside, abandoning defense of her king, Goryachkina sacrificed an exchange and crashed through, ending the game with a nice promotion tactic.

IM Nurgyul Salimova vs. GM Tan Zhongyi 0-1

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

GM Tan Zhongyi's win today against IM Nurgyul Salimova can basically be summarized as a win for materialism. In a Catalan-esque Semi-Slav position, Tan held on to her extra pawn and Salimova's compensation, which was positional and long-term in nature, quickly dissipated as she could not find the most accurate moves to apply pressure to Tan's position. After achieving a winning position, Tan converted flawlessly.

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou vs. GM Kateryna Lagno 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

In contrast to the aforementioned game, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou's game against GM Kateryna Lagno in the Neo-Catalan was much more clear-cut. White always had an advantage from the opening, but it was merely symbolic as Lagno's isolated d-pawn never became a true liability. After ther weak pawn on d5 was traded off, there was not much left to play for.

IM Bibisara Assaubayeva vs. IM Divya Deshmukh 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

After IM Bibisara Assaubayeva's loss yesterday, she was looking to bounce back against IM Divya Deshmukh. Unfortunately for Assaubayeva, she got close but could not ultimately finish Divya off. Another Neo-Catalan was on the board and Divya's 15...Ra7 was a portent of doom as her later moves were inaccurate, allowing Assaubayeva to gain space on the kingside and a lot of activity to boot. At a critical juncture on the 34th move, however, Assaubayeva played 34. f6??, blundering away her advantage and allowing Divya to escape as she grabbed White's f6-pawn. Instead, maintaining the tension with a move such as 34. Re4, as suggested by the engine, would have kept Assaubayeva's advantage.

GM Elisabeth Paehtz vs. GM Koneru Humpy 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Konstantin Chalabov / FIDE

Today's game between GM Elisabeth Paehtz and GM Koneru Humpy was not too surprising. Both had been coming off losses in round 6, and Paehtz has been having a disastrous tournament so far. Their choice to make a very quick draw, thus, made perfect pragmatic sense, though of course the spectators are never happy with such draws!

Round 8 Pairings