Women’s Candidates R2: Tan wins again, Goryachkina beats Muzychuk

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/6/2024 – Tan Zhongyi scored two wins in as many games to become the early leader at the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto. After beating Lei Tingjie in the first round, Tan got the better of Vaishali R on Friday to keep her perfect score. Now in sole second place stands Aleksandra Goryachkina, who defeated Anna Muzychuk with the white pieces. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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The Chinese domination continues?

At 32, Tan Zhongyi is already one of the most experienced elite players in the women’s chess circuit. Back in 2017, Tan became the women’s world champion by winning a 64-player knockout tournament in Tehran. In 2023, she reached the final of the Candidates Matches, which she lost to her round-1 opponent in Toronto, Lei Tingjie. 

The players in the Women’s Candidates are fighting to gain the right to face Ju Wenjun in the next match for the world title. In the latest match, Ju faced Lei in an all-Chinese confrontation — as mentioned above, the finalists in the Candidates both hailed from China as well. Though the likes of Aleksandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru and Kateryna Lagno have maintained ratings similar to those of their Chinese colleagues, the players from China have lately been doing better in the official World Championship cycle.

Tan is now the sole leader in Canada, as she beat Lei and Vaishali R to keep a perfect score after the first two days of action. This is a long tournament, though, so her rivals have more than enough time to recover.

Besides Tan’s victory over Vaishali, one more game ended decisively on Friday, with Goryachkina getting the better of Anna Muzychuk with the white pieces.

In round 3, both Tan and Goryachkina will play black, against Muzychuk and Lei respectively.

Results - Round 2

Candidates Tournament 2024

The playing hall in Toronto | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Tan 1 - 0 Vaishali

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali Rameshbabu

Tan Zhongyi facing Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Expert analysis by WIM Svitlana Demchenko

Goryachkina 1 - 0 Muzychuk

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Standings after round 2

All games

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Topics: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Candidates 2024, Tan Zhongyi
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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Women’s Candidates R1: Tan grabs crucial victory

4/5/2024 – Tan Zhongyi became the early leader after beating Lei Tingjie in round 1 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament. Playing black, Tan showed proficient technique to convert her extra pawn into a full point in a rook and bishop endgame. The three remaining games ended drawn. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Candidates R1: High-quality, fighting draws

4/5/2024 – The much anticipated Candidates Tournament kicked off in Toronto, Canada. The open section featured four draws on the first day of action. In the all-American confrontation between Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura (who are also the top two seeds in the event), Caruana got to put pressure on his compatriot with the white pieces. A fighting draw was also seen in the battle of youngsters between Alireza Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa R. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.