Women’s Candidates R13: Tan widens the gap as Vaishali beats Lei

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/21/2024 – Tan Zhongyi only needs a draw in the final round of the Women’s Candidates Tournament to become Ju Wenjun’s challenger in the next match for the world title. In the penultimate round, Tan drew Aleksandra Goryachkina and saw Lei Tingjie, the only other contender for first place, losing to Vaishali Rameshbabu. This was Vaishali’s fourth consecutive victory! | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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Vaishali’s astounding comeback

Tan Zhongyi is a half point away from becoming the next challenger for the Women’s World Championship title. Besides getting an early lead and showing strong and consistent play throughout the event, Tan was helped in the last four rounds by Vaishali R’s incredible comeback. The Indian GM-elect had a fifty-percent score after round 5; she then lost four games in a row; only to bounce back with four consecutive wins in rounds 10-13, including victories over Aleksandra Goryachkina and Lei Tingjie.

Vaishali’s win over Lei on Saturday allowed Tan to go into the final round with a full-point lead over her compatriot. Vaishali v. Lei was the one game that ended decisively in round 13, with Lei faltering in a drawn queen endgame, as she allowed Vaishali to simplify into a winning king and pawn endgame.

In the final round, Tan will play black against Anna Muzychuk. Muzychuk is tied for last place and is the only player who has remained winless throughout the event. However, the Ukrainian grandmaster more than once obtained clearly superior positions which she failed to convert into full points.

Lei, on her part, will face Humpy Koneru with the white pieces. Of course, Lei needs to go all out for the win, as it is her only chance of catching up with her compatriot in the final standings and setting up a playoff to decide the tournament winner.

Results - Round 13

Tan Zhongyi

Tan Zhongyi | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Vaishali 1 - 0 Lei

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Vaishali, Rameshbabu24751–0Lei, Tingjie2550
FIDE Womens Candidates 2024
Toronto20.04.2024[Besenthal,Klaus]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.Ba4 Ngf6 5.0-0 e6 6.Re1 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 Qc7 9.Nbd2 Rd8 10.e5 Nd5 11.exd6 Bxd6 12.Ne4 Bf8 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bh4 cxd4 15.cxd4 N7b6 16.Bc2 Nc4 17.Bg3 Nd6 18.Rc1 Qb6 19.Nxd6 Bxd6 20.Qd3 g6 21.Bb3 Bb4 22.Red1 a5 23.Nh4 Kg7 24.a3 Bd6 25.Nf3 Bd7 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Nd2 Bc6 28.Ne4 Qf4 29.Nc5 Re8 30.Re1 Rad8 31.Qh3 f5 32.Rcd1 Qd6 33.Nd3 Nf6 34.Ne5 Be4 35.Qc3 b6 36.f3 Bd5 37.Ba4 Rf8 38.Rc1 Rc8 39.Qd2 Rfd8 40.Rc3 Rxc3 41.Qxc3 Bb7 42.Rd1 Rc8 43.Qe3 Bd5 44.Kf2 Qb8 45.Rc1 Rxc1 46.Qxc1 Qd8 47.Qe3 Qc7 48.Qc3 Qd8 49.Qe3 Qc7 50.h3 Qd8 51.g4 fxg4 52.hxg4 Bb7 53.Bb3 Bd5 54.Ba4 Bb7 55.Bb3 Bd5 56.Bc2 Nd7 57.Nxd7 Qxd7 58.Qe5+ Kg8 59.Kg3 Qc6 60.Be4 Bxe4 61.fxe4
In this queen endgame, which actually seemed completely harmless, Lei now made the decisive mistake. 61...Kf7? Simple and good was 61...h6= 62.g5! This small pawn move completely changes the position in White's favour: the h7-pawn is practically worthless (in some variations Qh8 is now also possible), the white king can advance to e5, the e6-pawn is weak, White has a majority in the centre... Qc1 Now it's very easy for White. The passive alternative does not work either: 62...Qc8 63.a4 Qd7 64.Kf4 Qc8 65.Qf6+ Kg8 66.Ke5 Qc7+ 67.Kxe6 Qc8+ 68.Kd5 Qb7+ 69.Qc6+- 63.Qf4+ Qxf4+ 64.Kxf4
The pawn ending is easily winning for White. 64...a4 65.Ke5 Ke7 66.d5 exd5 67.exd5
1–0

Lei Tingjie, Vaishali Rameshbabu

With the queens still on the board | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Lei Tingjie

A painful loss for Lei Tingjie | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza


Expert analysis by GM Daniel King


Standings after round 13

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A completely exhausted Ian Nepomniachtchi!

Vaishali and her mother, Nagalakshmi

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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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