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

NameRtg.Nt.Pts.Pts.NameRtgNt.
2521
1
1-0
½
2475
2553
½
1-0
½
2520
2542
½
½-½
½
2546
2432
½
½-½
0
2550

Candidates Tournament 2024

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

Tan 1 - 0 Vaishali

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

TanTan, Zhongyi25211–0Vaishali, Rameshbabu2475Vaishali
GMFIDE Womens Candidates 2024
Toronto05.04.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]
GM
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 a6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.h3 Bf5 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 e6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Rfe1 0-0 13.a3 Qc7 14.Na2 Rac8 15.c3 Ne4 16.Qe2 Na5 17.Nb4 Nb3 18.Rad1 a5 19.Nd3
White has calmly transferred her knight, which was initially wrongly positioned in this Karlsbad structure, to the better square on d3. However, neither player has an advantage in this quiet position. 19...a4 20.Nfe5 Na5 21.f3 Nd6 22.Nf4 Nac4 23.Ned3 Rfe8 24.Qf2 Re7 25.Re2 Rce8 26.Rde1
Of course it was nice for White that her opponent no longer had a chance to open up the queenside. 26...b6 27.g4 Nb5 Better was 27...Qd8 28.Qh4 Rc7= 28.Qh4 Qd6 After 28...Qd8 29.Nh5 since all the fight is taking place on the kingside, White's attacking chances have almost inevitably increased. Qg5 is a threat. f6 A necessary weakening move, one that further improves White's attack. 30.g5
30...f5? Black had probably hoped for a passive but durable defence. But now she's inevitably losing. Necessary was 30...fxg5 but after 31.Qxg5 Rf7 32.f4 things do not look good for the e6-pawn. 31.Rg2 Kh8 32.Ndf4 e5
33.Nf6! gxf6 34.Ng6+
1–0

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

GoryachkinaGoryachkina, Aleksandra25531–0Muzychuk, Anna2520Muzychuk
GMFIDE Womens Candidates 2024
Toronto05.04.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]
GM
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nd7 10.e4 dxe4 11.Bb5 a6 12.Bxd7+ Qxd7 13.Qxd7+ Kxd7 14.Na4 Rb8 15.Rd1+ Ke8 16.Be3 Bg4 17.Rc1 Bb4+ 18.Bd2 Be7 19.h3 Bh5 20.0-0 Be2 21.Rfe1 Bd3 22.Be3 b5 23.Nb6 f5 24.Rc6 Kf7 25.Rec1
The activity of the white pieces gave sufficient compensation for the missing pawn. 25...Rb7? But now this was a mistake. Good was 25...Bd8 protecting c7. 26.Nc8 More precise was 26.Rc7 Rxc7 27.Rxc7 Re8 28.Nc8+- 26...Rd7 26...Bf8! perhaps still offered a chance of a draw. 27.Rc7 Rhd8 28.Nxe7 Bc4 28...Kxe7 29.Bg5+ 29.Rxd7 Rxd7 30.Nc8 Bxa2
31.Nd6+ Kg6 32.Ra1
1–0

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Standings after round 2

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
TBPerf.
1
2521
2.0
2
1.00
3313
2
2553
1.5
2
1.00
2724
3
2542
1.0
2
1.25
2550
4
2546
1.0
2
0.75
2509
5
2432
1.0
2
0.50
2535
6
2550
0.5
2
0.50
2284
7
2520
0.5
2
0.50
2300
8
2475
0.5
2
0.50
2341
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

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1.e4 8 c5 18 2.Nf3 22 Nc6 13 3.Bb5 1:19 d6 25 4.0-0 2:02 Bd7 1:23 5.Re1 1:04 Nf6 23 6.c3 3:17 a6 35 7.Bf1 1:43 e5 37 8.Na3 13:14 8.h3 8...Be7= 4:30 9.Nc2 1:27       0-0 3:05 10.h3 4:32 The position is equal. Re8 2:53 11.d3 6:08 h6 10:09 12.Ne3 1:44 Bf8 57 13.Nh2 3:23 Be6 7:53 14.Qf3 2:30 Ne7 15:48 15.Nhg4 3:49 Nxg4 3:25 16.hxg4 51 g6 24 16...Qd7 17.Nf5 14:00 Kh7 8:01 18.Ng3 5:12 Bg7 2:19 19.g5 5:24 Better is 19.Nf5= 19...h5 2:11 20.Be2 1:50 Rf8 3:46 21.Bd1 1:33 Qd7 6:44 22.Bb3 2:34 Bxb3 57 23.axb3 2 Qe6 16 24.Qd1 2:15 Rad8 5:37 25.Be3 30 Nc6 16 26.Nf1 1:34 f5 6:51 27.gxf6 1:14 Qxf6 8 28.Qd2 3:43 Qe6 18 29.Bg5 3:44 Bf6 2:05 30.Bxf6 1:22 Rxf6 4 31.Ne3 27 Rdf8 3:19 32.Re2 4:26 R6f7 4 Of course not 32...Qxb3?! 33.Nd5 a5 34.Ra3± 34.Nxf6+ Rxf6 35.Qg5 Kg7 33.Nd5 1:40 Qg4 42 34.Ne3 34 Qe6 4 35.Nd5 22 Qg4 5 36.Ne3 21 Qe6 4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.11 (very precise) /Black=0.12 (very precise) . Mistake: White=1 Black=2 Inaccurate: White=4 Black=3 OK: White=12 Black=16 Black should try 36...Qh4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2553Lagno,K2542½–½2024B51FIDE Womens Candidates 20241.1
Muzychuk,A2520Salimova,N2432½–½2024C43FIDE Womens Candidates 20241.2
Lei,T2550Tan,Z25210–12024D35FIDE Womens Candidates 20241.3
Vaishali,R2475Koneru,H2546½–½2024C54FIDE Womens Candidates 20241.4
Tan,Z2521Vaishali,R24751–02024B13FIDE Womens Candidates 20242.1
Lagno,K2542Koneru,H2546½–½2024C88FIDE Womens Candidates 20242.2
Salimova,N2432Lei,T2550½–½2024D27FIDE Womens Candidates 20242.3
Goryachkina,A2553Muzychuk,A25201–02024D14FIDE Womens Candidates 20242.4
Koneru,H2546Tan,Z2521½–½2024D02FIDE Womens Candidates 20243.1
Muzychuk,A2520Lagno,K2542½–½2024C88FIDE Womens Candidates 20243.2
Lei,T2550Goryachkina,A2553½–½2024C51FIDE Womens Candidates 20243.3
Vaishali,R2475Salimova,N24321–02024C42FIDE Womens Candidates 20243.4
Goryachkina,A2553Vaishali,R2475½–½2024D33FIDE Womens Candidates 20244.1
Lagno,K2542Tan,Z2521½–½2024B92FIDE Womens Candidates 20244.2
Salimova,N2432Koneru,H25461–02024E06FIDE Womens Candidates 20244.3
Muzychuk,A2520Lei,T2550½–½2024C01FIDE Womens Candidates 20244.4
Tan,Z2521Salimova,N2432½–½2024B12FIDE Womens Candidates 20245.1
Lei,T2550Lagno,K2542½–½2024C55FIDE Womens Candidates 20245.2
Vaishali,R2475Muzychuk,A2520½–½2024C54FIDE Womens Candidates 20245.3
Koneru,H2546Goryachkina,A2553½–½2024D27FIDE Womens Candidates 20245.4
Salimova,N2432Goryachkina,A25530–12024E05FIDE Womens Candidates 20246.1
Tan,Z2521Muzychuk,A25201–02024D05FIDE Womens Candidates 20246.2
Koneru,H2546Lei,T25500–12024E97FIDE Womens Candidates 20246.3
Vaishali,R2475Lagno,K25420–12024C89FIDE Womens Candidates 20246.4
Goryachkina,A2553Tan,Z2521½–½2024D30FIDE Womens Candidates 20247.1
Lagno,K2542Salimova,N2432½–½2024C60FIDE Womens Candidates 20247.2
Muzychuk,A2520Koneru,H2546½–½2024C70FIDE Womens Candidates 20247.3
Lei,T2550Vaishali,R24751–02024C54FIDE Womens Candidates 20247.4
Tan,Z2521Lei,T25500–12024D02FIDE Womens Candidates 20248.1
Koneru,H2546Vaishali,R24751–02024D97FIDE Womens Candidates 20248.2
Lagno,K2542Goryachkina,A2553½–½2024C78FIDE Womens Candidates 20248.3
Salimova,N2432Muzychuk,A2520½–½2024E01FIDE Womens Candidates 20248.4
Lei,T2550Salimova,N2432½–½2024C41FIDE Womens Candidates 20249.1
Koneru,H2546Lagno,K2542½–½2024D38FIDE Womens Candidates 20249.2
Vaishali,R2475Tan,Z25210–12024B22FIDE Womens Candidates 20249.3
Muzychuk,A2520Goryachkina,A2553½–½2024C67FIDE Womens Candidates 20249.4
Tan,Z2521Koneru,H2546½–½2024C45FIDE Womens Candidates 202410.1
Lagno,K2542Muzychuk,A2520½–½2024C83FIDE Womens Candidates 202410.2
Goryachkina,A2553Lei,T25500–12024D14FIDE Womens Candidates 202410.3
Salimova,N2432Vaishali,R24750–12024D90FIDE Womens Candidates 202410.4
Lei,T2550Muzychuk,A2520½–½2024C54FIDE Womens Candidates 202411.1
Tan,Z2521Lagno,K25421–02024E06FIDE Womens Candidates 202411.2
Koneru,H2546Salimova,N24321–02024D12FIDE Womens Candidates 202411.3
Vaishali,R2475Goryachkina,A25531–02024B22FIDE Womens Candidates 202411.4
Salimova,N2432Tan,Z2521½–½2024A11FIDE Womens Candidates 202412.1
Lagno,K2542Lei,T2550½–½2024C02FIDE Womens Candidates 202412.2
Muzychuk,A2520Vaishali,R24750–12024C84FIDE Womens Candidates 202412.3
Goryachkina,A2553Koneru,H2546½–½2024E05FIDE Womens Candidates 202412.4
Vaishali,R2475Lei,T25501–02024B51FIDE Womens Candidates 202413.1
Salimova,N2432Lagno,K2542½–½2024E05FIDE Womens Candidates 202413.2
Tan,Z2521Goryachkina,A2553½–½2024D50FIDE Womens Candidates 202413.3
Koneru,H2546Muzychuk,A2520½–½2024D30FIDE Womens Candidates 202413.4
Muzychuk,A2520Tan,Z2521½–½2024B28FIDE Womens Candidates 202414.1
Lagno,K2542Vaishali,R24750–12024C78FIDE Womens Candidates 202414.2
Lei,T2550Koneru,H25460–12024E24FIDE Womens Candidates 202414.3
Goryachkina,A2553Salimova,N2432½–½2024C41FIDE Womens Candidates 202414.4

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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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