"It has never been so sad to win an event"
By Milan Dinic, FIDE's Press Officer
Spanning six tournaments from Europe to India and back, with the participation of 23 players, the 2024/2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix concluded with Zhu Jiner atop the standings and Aleksandra Goryachkina securing the second spot for the 2026 Women's Candidates Tournament. Anna Muzychuk is third.
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.
Drama in Grosslobming
All five games saw sharp positions and tough struggles – a deserving end to a cycle of six spectacular tournaments in women's chess.
It was a make-or-break day for Anna Muzychuk. A win as white against Vaishali Rameshbabu in the final round in Austria would seal a hat-trick of triumphs: sole victory in the tournament, the overall win in the 2024/2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix Series and a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament (edging out Aleksandra Goryachkina, who was in the lead before this event). All of it hinged on this one game.
The game saw the French Defence, one of the oldest and most solid openings in chess. Anna managed to win a pawn and create a passer on the a-file, which offered her some chances. On the other hand, Vaishali had compensation in the activity of her pieces. The position was even until the first move after the time control, when Vaishali gave White a chance.
Muzychuk just played h4-h5. Her king and queen pinned to h2, she had to look for an opportunity to press on. The best choice for Black was to take on h5, but she played 41...Kf6? 42.hxg6 hxg6
Now White should have moved her king, either to h3 or – a computer move – to h1, opening the attack on g6. Instead, Anna went for 43.Qe1, and a few more moves down the road the game ended in a draw.
By this point, Zhu had already drawn her game with Alexandra Kosteniuk (being completely lost at one point, in the endgame), and Tan spoiled a winning position against Mariya Muzychuk. This meant that Anna Muzychuk would share first place with Zhu, but emerge first because she played more games with the black pieces.
Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel
When a tournament victory is not enough
After her final game, Anna – the winner of the Women's Grand Prix in Austria – stood silently in front of the playing hall, gazing in the distance. The scene told the story. She was sad and disappointed, on the brink of crying.
Had she won, she would have been in sole first. Had Kosteniuk played the right move in the endgame against Zhu, she would have won, and then a draw would have sufficed for Anna to take sole first place. Despite winning two out of three Grand Prix tournaments she played in (in Cyprus and in Austria), Anna did not qualify for the Candidates.
When asked how she feels, Anna Muzychuk responded:
It has never been so sad to win an event.
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.Despite emerging in first place, Anna Muzychuk failed to claim sole victory, which meant she did not get all the 130 points needed to clinch the spot in the Candidates.
Still, as a true professional, Anna Muzychuk patiently waited after the game and gave an interview which will be remembered for one line:
I won the last two Grand Prix tournaments, but still, it wasn't enough to qualify [for the Candidates], and that's the sad thing about it.
The winner of the final stage of the Women's Grand Prix | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel
China's Zhu Jiner wins the Women's Grand Prix
The day ultimately belonged to China's Zhu Jiner, who came to Austria with 235 points. She had the best chance to overtake Goryachkina for first place in the WGP and in the end, by tying for first place in Austria, she succeeded. Zhu said:
I'm very happy with my performance and how I played. I have also learnt a lot and I enjoyed it.
Zhu played the final-round game against Alexandra Kosteniuk. This encounter was important for Zhu, as she had to win to stand a fair chance of taking first place in the event. But doing that against a former women's world champion and seasoned player like Kosteniuk is not an easy task.
Zhu opted for the Nimzo-Indian Defence and got a very comfortable position. By move 16, the queens and a pair of minor pieces were off the board and Black reached equality. White had a worse pawn structure, but the active knight on f5 outweighed this shortcoming. After a couple of mistakes by Zhu, Alexandra got an overwhelming position, but let her advantage slip away with one careless move.
After 47.Nxg4 hxg4 48.h6 the evaluation is +6 in White's favour as Black's king cannot reach the a8-square after giving up the knight for White’s h-pawn - in this case, Zhu most likely would have lost, opening a clear path for Anna Muzychuk to take first place in the tournament and a spot in the Candidates!
However, Alexandra played 47.Bb2?, and after 47…Nxe3 48.Kxe4 Nd5+ the game was eventually drawn.
Zhu Jiner | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel
Tan Zhongyi in third place after missing a victory
Tan Zhongyi completely misplayed a winning position against former women's world champion Mariya Muzychuk, throwing away a chance to tie for the first place. In the Slav, Black (Muzychuk) had two doubled pawns on the b-file, but the position was roughly even. However, time trouble affected Mariya, who ended up a piece down.
White is completely winning, but the conversion did not go well at all. To the contrary...
34.Rb1 was played, but 34.Bxe5 with the idea of 34…Rxa3 35.d6 was even stronger.
There followed 34…Ng5 35.Bc4 Rh3 36.d6+! Ke8 37.Bb5 Kf7 38.dxe7 and White was still winning. To top it all, Mariya was in significant time trouble, while Tan had more than an hour on the clock.
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.However, as the game progressed, Tan completely lost her way and Black got counterplay, with her rook and pawns on the queenside.
Visibly upset, Tan stormed out of the playing hall. The silence was punctuated by a sharp bang of the door slamming behind her. On the other side was Mariya Muzychuk, still in the playing hall – checking out her sister's game, coming to terms with the situation.
Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel
Javakhishvili and Badelka score
Bulgaria's Nurgyul Salimova played a sharp game against Georgia's Lela Javakhishvili. In the Nimzo-Indian, Salimova lost a pawn in the critical moment of the middlegame, after which her position collapsed.
Austria's Olga Badelka finished the tournament on a high note, defeating Nana Dzagnidze in a game full of tension. In another Nimzo-Indian, White (Badelka) sacrificed two pawns for the initiative in the centre. A sharp position developed, with chances for both sides. The opponents traded mistakes at this stage, but Dzagnidze was the last to err.
Black should have proceeded with 17…Nh5 18.Nxd5 Nxf4 19.gxf4 c6 20.Nxc6 Nxc6 21.Nf6+ Bxf6 22.Rxd8 Rbxd8 23.Bxc6 Bh4 with a slightly better position.
Instead, Nana blundered with 17… c5??
After 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Nxd5! Bxd4 20.Bc7! Qg5 21.Bxa5 White emerged in a significantly better position.
White has a knight for two pawns, a knight in the centre, a pair of bishops and the initiative.
Following exciting complications, White transitioned to a winning endgame with two minor pieces and a pawn versus a rook. It took Olga a while to convert her advantage in this longest game of the round. Nonetheless, slowly but surely, she forced Nana to capitulate.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3
Olga Badelka | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel
Final standings
All games
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