Women’s Candidates R11: Tan takes down Lagno, leads

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/18/2024 – Three games ended decisively in round 11 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, with Tan Zhongyi beating Kateryna Lagno in a key matchup, Vaishali R taking down Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Humpy Koneru defeating Nurgyul Salimova. These results left Tan atop the standings, with a half-point advantage over Lei Tingjie. Goryachkina’s loss left her a whole two points behind Tan with only three rounds to go in Toronto. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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A two-horse race

The Chinese domination in the Women’s World Championship cycle continues, as Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie are the two clear contenders to take the title at the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto. The winner of the event will face Ju Wenjun in the next match for the women’s world title — Tan was the world champion in 2017-18, while Lei was Ju’s latest challenger for the world crown.

In round 11, Tan achieved a great victory against Kateryna Lagno. Lagno was the only player who remained undefeated in the event, though she had only scored one victory in her first ten games — over Vaishali R in the sixth round.

The two remaining crucial encounters in the fight for first place favoured Tan’s chances of winning the event. Lei drew Anna Muzychuk with the white pieces, after the Ukrainian GM failed to find a difficult line that would have giver her a clear advantage amid a complex middlegame; meanwhile, Aleksandra Goryachkina, who entered the round in shared third place a full point behind Tan, was defeated by Vaishali — Goryachkina rejected implicit draw offers as she tried to create winning chances somewhat desperately.

With only three rounds to go, Tan has a half-point lead over Lei, while Goryachkina, Lagno and Humpy Koneru — who also scored a win on Wednesday — stand a whole 2 points behind the leader. Both Tan and Lei will play black in two out of their three remaining games.

Results - Round 11

Lei Tingjie

Lei Tingjie | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Tan 1 - 0 Lagno

Analysis by André Schulz

Tan, Zhongyi25211–0Lagno, Kateryna2542
FIDE Womens Candidates 2024
Toronto17.04.2024[Schulz,A]
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d4 0-0 6.Nbd2 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.c4 Nc6 9.e3 b6 10.b3 Bb7 11.Bb2 dxc4 12.Nxc4 Qe7 13.Ng5 e5 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Rad8 16.Qf3 f5 17.Bd5+ Kh8 18.Bxc6 e4 19.Qf4 Bxc6 20.Rfd1 Bd5 21.Ne5 Kg8 22.h4 Qe6 23.Nc4 Be7 24.Rac1 h6 25.Qc7 b5 26.Ne5 Bf6
The decisive phase of the game begins. 27.Rc5? Now the d1-rook is unprotected, but Black does not take advantage of this. 27.Rd2 Rc8 28.Qd7= 27...Rfe8? Threatened is 27...-- 28.Ng6 Rf7 29.Qa5 Rfd7 30.Nf4 which results in Qf7 31.Bxf6 gxf6 32.Rxb5 Bc6 33.Qxd8+ Rxd8 34.Rxd8+ Kh7 34...Kg7 35.Rc5 Bb7 36.Rc7 Qxc7 37.Ne6+ 35.Rbb8+- 27...Rc8 is no good: 28.Qxa7 Bxe5 28...Ra8 29.Qd7 brings no profit for Black. 29.Bxe5 Qxe5 30.Rcxd5 Qb2 31.R5d2 with an extra pawn for White. Very productive, however, was 27...f4! 28.gxf4 28.exf4 e3 28...Rc8 29.Qxa7 Bxe5 30.fxe5 Qg4+-+ 28.Rxb5
28...Bxb3? The sacrifice does not work. 28...f4 was still best. 29.exf4 29.gxf4 Bxe5 30.Bxe5 Qg4+-+ 29...e3 30.fxe3 Qh3 31.Rbxd5 Qxg3+ with a perpetual check. 29.Rxd8 Bxd8 30.Qxa7 Bd1 31.Nc6 Mate is threatened. Bf6 32.Bxf6 Qxf6 33.Qd7 Bh5 34.Rxf5 Qa1+ 35.Kh2 Qxa2 36.g4 Bg6 37.h5 Bxf5 38.Qxe8+ Kh7 39.Kg3 Be6 40.Nd4
White is winning. 40...Bd5 41.Qe5 Ba8 42.Ne6 Qa7 43.Qf5+ Kg8 44.Qf8+ Kh7 45.g5 hxg5 46.Nxg5+ Kh6 47.Kh4
1–0

Tan Zhongyi

Tan Zhongyi | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza


Expert analysis by WIM Svitlana Demchenko


Vaishali 1 - 0 Goryachkina

Analysis by André Schulz

Vaishali, Rameshbabu24751–0Goryachkina, Aleksandra2553
FIDE Womens Candidates 2024
Toronto17.04.2024[Schulz,A]
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 d5 8.Bc2 Nb4 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Nge2 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nxc2+ 12.Qxc2 e6 13.Qd3 Rc8 14.0-0 a6 15.Qg3 g6 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Bh6 Bf8 18.Bg5 Be7 19.Bh6 Rc4 20.Rfd1 Bf8 21.Bg5 Qc7 22.Rac1 Bg7 23.b3 Rc6 24.Ne2 0-0 25.h4 Rc8 26.h5 Rc2 27.Qg4 Qd7 28.Rxc2 Rxc2 29.hxg6 fxg6 30.Nf4 Rc6 31.Rd3 Qf7 32.Qh4 Nd7 33.Rh3 Nf8 34.Be7 Qf5 35.Nd3 Rc3 36.Rf3 Qe4 37.Qh3 Rc6 38.Rf4 Qe2
White counts with a superior position. 39.Bf6?! 39.Rf3 Qe4 40.Nb4 Rb6 41.Bc5+- 39...h6 40.Bxg7 Kxg7 41.Rxf8!? Kxf8 42.Qxh6+ Ke7 43.Qxg6 Qe4 43...Kd8= 44.Qg7+ Ke8 45.Qg8+ Ke7 46.Qg7+ Ke8 47.Qg8+ Ke7 48.Nc5 Qe1+ 49.Kh2 Qxf2=
50.Qg5+ Ke8 51.Nxb7 Qxd4 52.Qg8+ Ke7 53.Qg5+ Ke8 54.Qd8+ Kf7 55.Qf6+ Ke8 56.Qg6+ Ke7 57.Qh7+ Ke8 58.Qg8+ Ke7 59.Qg5+ Ke8 60.Nd6+ Rxd6 60...Kd7 61.Qg7+ Kd8= 61.exd6 Qh8+ 62.Kg3 Qc3+ 63.Kg4 Qb4+ 64.Qf4 d4? Black has a winning idea, but it doesn't work. 64...Qe1 65.Qa4+ Kd8 66.Qxa6 Qd1+ 67.Kg5 Qc1+ 68.Kg6 Qc2+= 65.Qe5 d3+ 66.Kf3 Kf7 66...d2 67.Qxe6+ Kf8 68.Ke2 Qd4 69.Qe7+ Kg8 70.Qg5+ Kf7 71.Qxd2+- 67.d7 Qb7+ 68.Qe4 d2 68...Qxd7 69.Qh7+ Ke8 70.Qxd7+ Kxd7 71.Ke3 and White wins in the pawn ending. 69.d8N+ Playing to the gallery. 69.d8Q+- 69...Kf6 70.Nxb7
1–0

Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Standings after round 11

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The intense clash of leaders

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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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