Goryachkina now a half point behind Lagno

Following the rest day, two out of five games ended decisively in round six of the Women's Grand Prix stage in Monaco. Kateryna Lagno, the sole leader, secured a 28-move draw with Alexandra Kosteniuk to maintain her position at the top of the standings. Meanwhile, two of the players who had been trailing Lagno by half a point suffered defeats: Humpy Koneru lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina, while Sara Khadem was defeated by Tan Zhongyi.

These results allowed Goryachkina to move into shared second place alongside Batkhuyag Munguntuul, with both players just half a point behind Lagno. Tan, on the other hand, now sits in a four-player group with an even score, a further half point back.

Both decisive games of the day were decided in the technical phase. Goryachkina outplayed Humpy in a double-rook endgame (full game analysis below), while Khadem was unable to hold what was theoretically an equal position with a queen and a minor piece per side. From a practical standpoint, however, the position was extremely difficult to defend. Now representing Spain, Khadem erred with 42.Qb2, whereas 42.Nd2 would have been the most accurate defensive resource.

There followed 42...Qe4+ 43.Kd2 Qg2+ 44.Kc3 Qf3+ 45.Kd2 Be4, and Black's bishop had infiltrated decisively.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

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.

Khadem continued to resist until move 60 before conceding defeat.

Sara Khadem | Photo: Niki Riga

Goryachkina 1 - 0 Humpy

Goryachkina, Aleksandra2546

1–0

Koneru, Humpy2523

FIDE Women GP Monaco 2024-25 24.02.2025[CC]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Qd7 After thinking for 9 minutes, Humpy decided to play 9...Qd7 instead of the main move in the position: 9...Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 and here the likes of Firouzja and Caruana continued with Nxf2 12.Rxf2 f6 13.exf6 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Qxf6 etcetera. 10.Nbd2 Rd8

A novelty. Note that the dark-squared bishop is still on c8. It was Humpy who left the main lines, but she also spent more time in the opening than her excellently prepared opponent. 10...Nc5 11.Bc2 Bg4 12.Re1 was played, for example, in Leko v. Anand at the 1999 Linares super-tournament. 11.Qe2 Nc5 12.Nd4 Bg4 13.Qe3 Ne6 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Qg3 Bf5 16.Nf3 Bc5 17.Kh1 Bd3 18.Re1 Qb6 19.Be3 0-0 20.Rad1 Bxe3 21.Rxe3 Be4 22.Ng5 Nxg5 23.Qxg5 Qg6 24.h4 c6 25.f3 h6 26.Qf4 Bc2 27.Rd2 Bxb3 28.axb3

And all the minor pieces have left the board. The contenders showcased very precise play up to this point. Goryachkina had 27 minutes to Humpy's 13, though. 28...Rfe8 29.b4 Re6 30.Kh2 Rde8 31.Rde2 h5 32.Re1 Ra8 33.Qg5 a5 34.f4 Qxg5 35.hxg5 A double-rook endgame with seven pawns per side has appeared on the board. The position is equal, but there is plenty of room for mistakes still. g6 Engines prefer 35...axb4 but Humpy understandably rejected this move due to 36.f5 Re7 37.g4 bxc3 38.Rxc3 Rae8 39.e6 and White has the initiative. 36.bxa5 Rxa5 37.g4 hxg4 38.Kg3 Kg7 39.Kxg4 White is a bit more active, but Black should be able to hold this. Ra8

But, with less than a minute on the clock, Humpy falters just before reaching the time control. 39...Re8 is correct, since after, for example 40.Rh3 Ra4 41.Reh1 Re4 the rook that originally stood on the a-file finds an active square on the opponent's camp. Crucially, the rook on the e-file cannot do the same (at least as quickly). In the game, the rook on the a-file did reach a4, but only after losing a key tempo. 40.Rh3 Ree8 41.Reh1 Kf8 42.e6 After receiving 30 extra minutes on the clock, Goryachkina notices she has winning chances and finds the correct way to break through. Ra4 Not 42...fxe6 43.Rh7 infiltrating decisively. And of course not 42...Rxe6 43.Rh8+ Ke7 44.Rxa8 43.exf7 Re7 44.Rh8+ Kxf7 45.R1h6 White is now clearly winning. She will grab the g-pawn, and her passers on the kingside will decide the game in her favour. Ree4 46.R6h7+ Ke6 47.Rf8 Kd6 48.Rg7 b4 49.Rxg6+ Kc5 50.Rgf6 Re2 51.Rc8 Ra6 52.cxb4+ Kxb4 53.Rcxc6 Ra1 54.Rfd6 Rd1 55.g6 d4 56.Kf5 Rg2 57.Rc7 d3 58.Rcd7 d2 59.g7 Rdg1

60.Rxd2 Humpy continued playing while she could still hope to find some tricks with her passer on the d-file, but now that it is gone, the path to victory is trivial for Goryachkina. Rxd2 61.Rxd2 Rxg7 62.Kf6 1–0

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: Niki Riga

Kateryna Lagno, who won the 2022/23 Women's Grand Prix remains in the lead in Monaco | Photo: Niki Riga

Round 6 results

Standings

All games

Links

• Official website
• Alina Kashlinskaya victorious in Tbilisi after scoring back-to-back wins
• Goryachkina scores 7/9, obtains convincing victory in Shymkent