Lei’s first move hardly surprised anyone as she has always played 1.d4 for the whole event, and this last game was no exception. The exchange Grunfeld was tested again, but this time White played 7.Qa4+ to deviate from the previous game. At the post-mortem analysis, Lei said that she knew 11…Bg4 was an inaccuracy, and Black had to exchange Queens to hold in the endgame.

Lei thought she was better after 19.Re4 since she had a space advantage and the bishop pair. Engines find the position still holdable for Black but very difficult to play.

And indeed, Anna missed the idea of 19…Nc8 followed by 20…Qe5 and 21…Nd6 and after 19…Rfc8 20.Bg4 Rd8 21.c4 found herself in dire straits.

Lei got a considerable advantage, won some material a few moves down the road and very convincingly converted it in the endgame afterwards.

Final position. One of White’s passers inevitably promotes 1-0

Huge congratulations to Lei Tingjie, who showed a very high level of play, eliminating both Muzychuk sisters with two wins with the White pieces in the classical segments.

There is still a lot of chess to be played as the Pool B of the FIDE Women’s Candidates is not far away. The event will take place in Uzbekistan from the 28th of November to the 11th of December. See you there to meet Lei’s opponent for the finals then!

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Text: WGM Andreea Navrotescu

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Queens were exchanged relatively quickly after Anna essayed a trendy idea of 7.Nxc6, 8.Qd3 and 9.Qg3 in the Paulsen Sicilian. Then on move 12, Muzychuk played a4, which visually looked like she was giving up control over the b4 square. At the post-game interview, Anna said that she did not think 12…Bb4 was a big deal since she could react with 13.Bd2.

The next critical moment happened on the move 23 when Anna decided to go for an opposite-colour bishops endgame by taking on d6 (23.Rxd6). The engines do not quite agree with this decision and prefer to maintain the pressure on the board by playing 23.g4!? The point is to prove that the black structure and, particularly, the e4 pawn are weak. After Lei found the precise sequence 23…Rxf1+ followed by 25…Rxf2+ equalizing on the spot, there was nothing special to play for. Fourteen moves down the road, a draw was signed in a dead-equal opposite-colour bishops endgame.

The last classical game of the match with Lei having White pieces will be played on November 5. Will there be a tiebreaker? Let’s wait and see!

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Anna Muzychuk opted for Gruenfeld Defence, in which the opponents followed a well-known theoretical path. White had more space and decided to take the initiative with the move 15.h4, a typical move in the Grunfeld structures, to open the h-file. Anna reacted correctly by introducing a sensible novelty 16…h6 to have an option of advancing her g-pawn when the White h-pawn gets to h5.

19.e5 played by White was certainly the critical moment of the game. Lei Tingjie made a committal decision restricting Black’s dark-squared bishop but abandoning the pawn control over the d5-square. In her post-game interview, Anna commented that it was a typical idea, and if White managed to get all the space in the center and on the kingside, she would be better. Fortunately for Black, she never was in too much danger. After the timely exchange of rooks with 21…Rb5, Anna solved all the problems and the game logically ended in a threefold repetition on the move 28.

Tomorrow, November 3, will be a rest day. The players will undoubtedly make the most out of it to recharge batteries and entertain us in the third game of the match, which will take place on November 4.

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It was quite a peaceful game, as Black equalized comfortably in the opening. Indeed, Anna seemed surprised by her opponent’s opening choice as it was Lei’s first time playing 1…c5 (the Sicilian Defence) in this event. Understandably, to avoid possible surprises, Anna chose a sideline against 2…e6, which led to a balanced position.

Both players handled the opening very well and afer massive exchanges it gradually transposed into a rook and knight ending, in which Black seemed to have some pressure over White’s king, but it was never sufficient to claim an advantage. Lei said in the post-mortem interview that she thought the position was holdable for White despite her king being cut off on the first rank. A draw was logically agreed on move 46.

This first game of the semifinals looks like a probing action for both players. We shall expect a big fight with three classical games to go, starting with the second game on November 2, in which Lei will have the White pieces.

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The first rapid game was a pretty solid one, as there were no big swings of evaluation by chess engines. It was the same Petrov Defence as in their classical games, with Anna playing 3.d4. This time around, Humpy deviated on the move 5, exchanging the knights with 5…Nxd2. Humpy had an advantage on the clock and some pressure on White’s position, but it was not enough – the game ended in repetition on the move 32.

The second rapid game was also of very good quality as no player made obvious mistakes. Humpy deviated first from the game they played in the classical portion of the match with 6.Qa4+. After the queens exchange a few moves later, the opponents ended up in a balanced position and shook hands on move 34.

Things started to get messy in the third rapid game, where this time Anna tried a new move 10.Bf5, in the line of Petrov Defence from the first rapid encounter. It seems like Humpy’s 13…Bxf5 was not the best decision, and Anna got a superior position thanks to the open g-file. White quickly took control of the proceedings, but it was still a very complicated position. Apparently, Muzychuk missed with 21…Bxc3! that gave Black dangerous counterplay. Anna’s reaction was far from optimal, and Humpy grabbed the initiative but not for long.

A couple of mistakes from Koneru followed, and the pendulum swung again – Anna got an overwhelming advantage, but, short of time, she did not find a study-like win.

Indeed after 30.Nd2!! sacrificing the knight but disrupting the coordination of Black’s pieces, White was winning. The main line is 30…Bxd2 31.Rg1 Bg5 32.h4 Bd8 33.f6 and Black has no way out. Instead, 30.Rg1 was played straight away, which allowed Humpy to force a draw by perpetual  30…Rb2+ 31.Kc1 Nd3+ 32.Kd1 Nxf2+ 33.Kc1 Nd3+ ½-½

This tiebreak had a very dramatic finale in a situation when both players were under tremendous pressure. Playing with Black, Anna made a very interesting opening choice, sacrificing a pawn for the initiative. The game ended prematurely though, as Humpy blundered a piece:

Black just played 16.Bd2?? and resigned after 16…Bxd4 17.exd4 Qxe2 0-1

The match was extremely tense, with both players showing some amazing chess. One could be disappointed by a blunder that ruins five days of hard for five days, but competitive chess is cruel sometimes. Congratulations to Anna Muzychuk, who advances to the semis, where she faces Lei Tingjie.

Right after the tiebreaker, a quick drawing of lots was held. Anna Myzuchuk will have white pieces in the first game of the semifinal.

October 31 will be a rest day, a well-deserved time for the players to recover from their tough matches. The semifinal will start on October 1 at 15:00 CET.

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The first game to finish was the Lei Tingjie – Mariya Muzychuk. After successfully defending in the second round of their match, Lei played the rock-solid Petrov Defence once again. Mariya deviated from the first game as early as move 9, playing 9.Re1 instead of 9.Nc3.

Even though Tingjie had a 28-minute think before move 14, the position always remained roughly equal, and the somehow misplaced Na6 got back into the game on move 20. A logical draw was signed on the move 43 and Lei Tingjie punched her ticket to the semi-finals.

As for the other match of the day, Anna Muzychuk delivered an amazing game and went on to win on demand to even the score. The opponents repeated the second game of their match, but Humpy swerved off first on the move 12 by playing 12…Nc6 instead of 12…Bf8. With a little more space and more coordinated pieces, it seems like the position was easier to play for Anna, who engineered some activity on the kingside by planting her knight on f5 and advancing h-pawn. Koneru tried to create some counterplay in the center, but it was not nearly as effective.

According to the engines, Humpy’s decisive mistake was 22…c4? because she had to spend a lot of time getting it back. Anna, meanwhile, regrouped and pounced on Black’s king by sacrificing an exchange on move 35.

After 35.Rexd4 Bxd4 36.Rxd4 Qa2? (better was 36…Qc6 although after 37.Rd6 Qc4 38.Qxe6+ White has a clear advantage in the endgame) 37.Rd7 White launched a deadly attack on Black’s king.

A real drama unfolded on the critical control move 40.

First Muzychuk erroneously played 40.Kh3? instead of a more natural 40.f4, but with just a few seconds on the clock, Humpy missed a hidden opportunity to draw the game by 40…Rxf2, forcing an exchange of the queens. Instead, the Indian GM grabbed another pawn 40…Qxf6? but after 41.Rg7+ Kh8 42.Ra7 it was all over for Black.

Anna won the game convincingly on the move 58.

Therefore, Lei will have the right to rest for two consecutive days while the winner of the Muzychuk – Humpy match will be decided tomorrow, 30th of October. The tie-breaks with the rapid 15+10 time control and then blitz if needed promise to be exciting!

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The first game to conclude was the Humpy – Muzychuk one. After some theoretical line of the Semi-Tarrasch that both players seemed to know well, Black introduced a novelty on the move 11 (the first line of Stockfish) and emerged a pawn up in the endgame but with the King stuck in the center. The game was roughly equal all along, and it even seemed like Black could have tested White’s defensive skills a little bit had Anna played

26…Be7! exerting some pressure, instead of 26…g5.

All in all, the opponents played a clean, high-quality game that logically ended in a draw.

As for the second game between Lei and Muzychuk, it seems like Black missed a clear win. After the queens were exchanged early on in a rare line of Slav Defense, Mariya gradually outplayed her opponent in the ending. She took control of the g-open file, the only available one in the position, and infiltrated with her took into White’s camp. Unfortunately, when Mariya was on the verge of finishing things off, she got off track:

Mariya missed 43…Nb4! preserving her knight from the exchange with excellent winning chances. Instead, she played 43…Ke7 and after 44.Bxc6! Lei held a draw with relative ease despite being down a pawn.

Tomorrow, the 29th of October the last round of the quarterfinals will be played. Both Muzychuk sisters will have White pieces in a must-win situation. Stay tuned to see if they will manage to even the score and force their opponents to what would be an exciting tie-break!

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Text: WGM Andreea Navrotescu

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