Mammadzada continues to impress
The youngest participants in Gibraltar are making a splash. Zhansaya Abdumalik (21) and Gunay Mammadzada (20) have shown some of the best chess that has been played on the Rock this past week. Abdumalik is the sole leader with an undefeated +5 score, while Mammadzada, the third lowest-rated player in the field, is in shared second place on +3.
Abdumalik’s remarkable performance has gained her 26.4 rating points so far, which leaves her less than two points short of reaching the 2500-mark that would grant her the grandmaster title, as she has already collected three GM norms — her first norm was achieved at the World Open in 2017.
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Meanwhile, Mammadzada only needs a draw in round 9 to get a GM norm herself. The young Azerbaijani defeated Alina Kashlinskaya, Valentina Gunina and Kateryna Lagno in consecutive rounds, and now shares second place with former women’s world champion Mariya Muzychuk, the only player who has managed to defeat her in the tournament up to this point.
Lagno’s defeat in round 8 was her first loss of the event. However, despite falling to fifth place in the standings, she is still the front-runner in the race to get the coveted spot in the Candidates. Her rivals in this pursuit, Nana Dzagnidze and Anna Muzychuk, have both failed to score more than fifty percent so far, but they still have chances to catch up with the Russian.

Gunay Mammadzada and Zhansaya Abdumalik on the rest day | Photo: John Saunders
Abdumalik defeated Dzagnidze with the black pieces in round 7. The Georgian star had a slightly better position, but mistakenly went for a tactical blow in the centre on move 23.
Dzagnidze vs. Abdumalik - Round 7
Dzagnidze tried to use the fact that the c5-bishop is pinned to convert her positional advantage into a more tangible edge, but her 23.Rxd4 turned out not to be correct. Abdumalik quickly replied 23...Qxe5 24.Rxe4 Qxe4 25.Bxe6 and then played the crucial 25...Rf8, perhaps what Dzagnidze had missed in her calculations.
Special attention will be paid to Intermediate Moves, Quiet Moves, Sacrifices on Empty Squares, Mating Patterns, Ignoring Opponents Threat, Calculation in Defence and Method of Comparison. Plus 50 interactive examples to test your knowledge.
Now after 26.Rxc5 Black has 26...Qxe3, using the pin along the f-file. White defended against the mating threat with 27.Rc2, but had to resign after 27...Rae8 28.Re2 Rxe6
29.Qxe6 does not work due to 29...Rxf2+!
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1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.c3 e6 8.Qb3 Qc8 9.Be2 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rac1 h6 12.c4 dxc4 13.Nxc4 Qd7 14.Rfd1 Rfc8 15.Nfe5 Qd8 16.Qxb7 Nxd4 17.Kf1 Be4 18.Qa6 Bc5 19.Be3 Nd5 20.Bh5 Nxe3+ 21.Nxe3 Qg5 22.Bxf7+ Kh7 23.Rxd4 Qxe5 24.Rxe4 Qxe4 25.Bxe6 Rf8 26.Rxc5 Qxe3 27.Rc2 Rae8 28.Re2 Rxe6 0–1
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Dzagnidze,N | 2524 | Abdumalik,Z | 2472 | 0–1 | 2021 | | FIDE Womens GP Gibraltar 2021 | 7.2 |
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Nana Dzagnidze still has chances to make it into the Candidates | Photo: David Llada
Strong tactical vision also helped Mammadzada get a full point against Lagno in round 8. The experienced Russian spent over half an hour on her 19th move, which ended up being a decisive mistake. Long think, wrong think?
Mammadzada vs. Lagno - Round 8
19...Bxf3 20.Nxf3 Qd3 was perhaps Lagno’s attempt to push for simplifications, looking to keep things under control as she is mostly concerned about the fight for the spot in the Candidates, and rightfully so.
However, she probably underestimated her rival’s fighting spirit, as Mammadzada did not trade queens but went for 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6
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Black now needs to be careful as most of her pieces are far from her king. Lagno defended against the immediate threats, but saw her opponent trading down into a winning endgame with rook, bishop and an extra pawn against rook and knight in an open position.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.a4 Rb8 10.a5 Ba7 11.Be3 Bg4 12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4 0-0 14.h3 Bh5 15.Qc2 Nb4 16.Qc3 c5 17.dxc5 dxc5 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bh4 Bxf3 20.Nxf3 Qd3 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6 c4 23.Ne5 Qxe4 24.Rfe1 Qh7 25.Qe7 f6 26.Nxc4 Bxf2+ 27.Kxf2 bxc4 28.Bxc4+ Kh8 29.Qxh7+ Kxh7 30.b3 Kg6 31.Re6 h5 32.Rd1 Rfe8 33.Rxe8 Rxe8 34.Rd6 Re5 35.Rb6 Na2 36.Rxa6 h4 37.Kf3 Nc3 38.b4 Kg5 39.Re6 Rf5+ 40.Ke3 Rf4 41.Rc6 Nd1+ 42.Kd3 Nb2+ 43.Kc3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Mammadzada,G | 2443 | Lagno,K | 2546 | 1–0 | 2021 | | FIDE Womens GP Gibraltar 2021 | 8.3 |
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Gunay Mammadzada | Photo: David Llada
Standings after round 8
All games
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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