All photos by David Llada
The world women chess championship concluded last week in Tehran with surprising victory by Tan Zhongyi from China. As our initial report summed up, the event saw a lot of controversies around it before it even get started. However, after the event kicked off, it was all about everyone’s favorite thing: playing chess and trying to win!
The tournament saw a lot of surprises from the very first game in the first round with the most interesting ones, in my humble opinion, being Zhukova’s elimination at the hand of experienced but semi-retired IM Nino Khurtsidze from Georgia. However, it was not the only success for Georgians, The newly mom, IM Sopiko Guramishvili, uncorked another surprised by beating much higher-rated and local hero IM Sara Khadem to make first round memorable for Georgians.
Mom power! Two Georgian moms proved not all nice and kind when it comes to the ‘royal game’. Sopiko Guramashvili was one, and...
... Nino Khurtidze was another.
Georgians have a long and rich history in women’s chess with many strong players despite being a small nation! Beware! With eleven players, the Russians had a strong presence in Tehran. However, two of their biggest hopes happened to face the tournament’s sensation, Ni Shiqun!
At only 19, Ni Shiqun beat Natalia Pogonina and Valentina Gunina while only losing to another Russian, GM Aleksandra Kosteniuk. Watch this lady in the future!
However, apart from their strong field in this world championship, only one of their players made it to the semi-final and it was none other than ex-world champion Aleksandra Kosteniuk.
Always going strong in chess and fashion. Ex-world championship Aleksandra Kosteniuk
The tournament was full of sensational moments, tactical blunders, strong play and drama. Here is a sample of a few of those thrilling moments.
Suicide does not help!
In a Georgian Derby in the first round, Sofio Gvetadze was stuck in a repetition against Nino Batsiashvili. She had no way out of it but her decision on how to finish her tournament in Tehran ended terribly:
Nino Batsiashvili vs Sofio Gvetadze (Round one)
Sofio Gvetadze came with high hopes but fell in round one
The great escape!
Some of the key ingredients for success in a knockout tournament are resourcefulness, resilience, and a tendency to not resign! The sum of these three characteristics could be seen through a player’s tactical alertness. Natalia Buksa has proven herself as a tough nut to crack. She won the World Junior when she was not even rated 2200 and now in this tournament she managed to beat GM Hong Thanh Trang from Hungary after finding a miraculous escape.
Houdini has nothing over Nataliya Buksa
Nataliya Buksa vs Hong Thanh Trang (Round one)
The game is not over until the scoresheets are signed!
We keep hearing that the most difficult task in chess is ‘to win a winning position’. However, when it comes to a tournament of such brutal format, in which a single mistake means goodbye, things become more dramatic than usual. This was the case in the first round match between Lela Javakhishvili and Pham Le Nguyen.
Experienced Georgian and a strong player, Lela Javakhishvili was on her way to the second round but the tables turned around in dramatic fashion
Lela Javakhishvili vs Pham Le Nguyen (Round one)
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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