Women’s Candidates: Goryachkina advances to the semifinals

by Klaus Besenthal
12/4/2022 – At the Women's Candidates Tournament in Uzbekistan, the fourth classical games of the quarterfinals both ended in draws on Saturday. Thus, Aleksandra Goryachkina beat Alexandra Kosteniuk 2½-1½ and qualified for the semifinals, while Kateryna Lagno and Tan Zhongyi will decide their match in tiebreaks. | Photos: Timur Sattarov and Xushnud Baltaev
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Kosteniuk is knocked out

Saturday’s game between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk had some interesting moments, although I guess we always have to keep this in mind: Goryachkina needed a draw, Kosteniuk needed a win. 

 
Goryachkina, Aleksandra2584½–½Kosteniuk, Alexandra2521
FIDE Womens Candidates Pool-B 2022-23
Khiva03.12.2022[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Be3 Ngf6 6.f3 a6 7.Bd3 Rb8 8.Nge2 c6 9.a4 0-0 10.a5 b5
Kosteniuk had certainly planned this attacking attempt on the queenside when she played the novelty 7...Rb8. 11.axb6 Interestingly, stronger was 11.cxb5 cxb5 12.b4 White's space advantage is now secured, and one may assume that domination of the c-file will be a consequence of this development. On the black side the d7-knight is a real problematic piece... 11...Qxb6 12.Na4 Qc7 13.0-0 e5?! Here 13...c5 make more sense, since the g7-bishop is not blocked. 14.d5 Nh5 15.Qc2?! 15.dxc6! Qxc6 16.Nec3 with a close to decisive advantage. 15...Kh8?! 15...cxd5 16.cxd5 Qxc2 17.Bxc2 f5= Of course, Black's decisions were influenced by the fact influenced by the fact that she absolutely needed a victory. 16.Rfc1 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Bxf5 Ndf6 19.Bxc8 Rfxc8
20.Qd2?! The simple 20.g4 Nf4 21.Nxf4 exf4 22.Bxf4 war more promising. 20...Rb3? Better was 20...e4± 21.Nac3 The best alternative here was 21.Rc3 the threat of g2-g4 was not off the table, and neither an exchange of rooks nor the retreat of the b3-rook would have been been of any use to Black. 21...Qb7 22.Rc2 cxd5 23.cxd5 Nxd5 24.Nxd5 Rxc2 25.Qxc2 Qxd5
26.Rd1 26.Nc3 Qb7 27.Qd3 Rxb2 28.Qxd6 would have resulted in a winning position for White. It is remarkable that the g7-bishop remains ineffective. For example: Qc8 29.Ne4 Nf4 30.Bd2 It's fantastic how stably the white pieces cover each other. The a6-pawn will fall, and then you can play for a win in peace. 26...Rxb2 27.Rxd5 Rxc2 28.Rxd6 Without the queens on the board, the "king security" theme is omitted. Kg8 29.Kf1 Ra2 30.g4 Nf6 31.Ng3 Kf7 32.g5 Ne8 33.Rb6 Bf8? Correct was 33...Rxh2 34.Rb7+? 34.h4! would once again have resulted in good winning chances, due to the threat of h4-h5 and g5-g6+. The knight might jump to f5. 34...Kg8 35.Rb8 Kf7 36.Rb7+ Kg8 37.Rb8 Kf7 ½–½
 

For Alexandra Kosteniuk this World Championship cycle is over

In the game between Kateryna Lagno and Tan Zhongyi, the game was balanced throughout. With all four games drawn, the players will have to decide their match in a tiebreak.

The tiebreak starts with four 15+10 games

Finally, a side note: in this tournament for women, two men were also allowed to play a (small) role today!

All games

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • 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.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
 

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.

Links

Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.