ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
The Women's World Chess Championship takes place from March 17 – April 7 in Sochi, Russia. The knock-out tournament is attended by 64 players, including the former World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), Anna Ushenina (Ukraine), and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), the three-time Russian champion Valentina Gunina, the World Vice-Champion Humpy Koneru (India), as well as other leading grandmasters. Unfortunately, the reigning champion Hou Yifan was unable to come for personal reasons, but as the winner of the FIDE Grand Prix she will still be able to challenge the new champion to a match.
The first five rounds consist of mini-matches of two games played at 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move. The final match will consist of four games.
In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by a series of tiebreak games: two rapid games of 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If the score remains equal, the players then proceed to two more games played at 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If the score continues tied a final mini-match will be played of two blitz games of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move. Finally, an Armageddon game will be played to decide the winner in which White has five minutes and Black has four minutes, with a three-second increment per move after move 61. Black will be declared the victor if the game is drawn.
The final game of the final match: would a champion be hailed, or would the Comeback Queen strike again?
Pogonina certainly understood how desperate her situation was, and the opening had to have had silent cries of dismay echoing inside her head. Mariya Muzychuk's decision to play the Scotch Four Knights caught her off guard, and possibly afraid of her preparation to boot, Pogonina opted for a strange sequence 5...Bc5 and then 6...Bb4, giving up a tempo in order to force Mariya out of whatever it was she had planned. It certainly worked, but at what cost?
The fans in attendance
The opening was completely in favor of White, and though she was never quite teetering on the edge of victory, nor was she ever in any kind of trouble.
The first congratulations, but not the last!
That's the smile of a World Champion
With this magnificent victory, after fourteen classical games, not to mention the grueling tiebreaks, Mariya Muzychuk became the 15th Women World Champion against all odds. Perhaps a sign that she was not one of the weaker candidates is that for her monumental effert, the end result was.... a loss of two Elo!
Report by Albert Silver and Eteri Kublashvili
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili, Anastasia Karlovich, and Vladimir Barsky
| Player | Fed | Rtg | G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | G5 | G6 | G7 | G8 | G9 | Pts |
| Pogonina, Natalia | RUS | 2456 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1.5 | |||||
| Muzychuk, Mariya | UKR | 2526 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2.5 |
| Round 1 - 64 players | ||
| March 17 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 18 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 19 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| Round 2 - 32 players | ||
| March 20 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 21 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 22 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| Round 3 - 16 players | ||
| March 23 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 24 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 25 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| Round 4 - 8 players | ||
| March 26 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 27 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 28 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| Round 5 - 4 players | ||
| March 29 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 30 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| March 31 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| Rest day - April, 1 | ||
| Round 6 - 2 players | ||
| April 2 | Game 1 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| April 3 | Game 2 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| April 4 | Game 3 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| April 5 | Game 4 | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| April 6 | Tie breaks | 3:00 p.m. local time |
| April 7 | Closing Ceremony* | |
| *Closing Ceremony can be shifted to April 6 in the absence of tie breaks |
||
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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
 |
