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For the seventh round of the Grand Prix tournament in Monaco, three basketball players from the local basketball association visited to promote women's sports.
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.
Additionally, Inna Bazhenova, the founder of TEAX, one of the tournament's main sponsors, was present and played a game against the chief organiser, Jean-Michael Rapaire.
The round of the Women's Grand Prix in Monaco then featured a very short game, a very long game, and a game with a highly eventful course and a bizarre ending.
The shortest game was played by Elisabeth Paehtz and Aleksandra Goryachkina. After just 13 moves, the players repeated their moves and agreed to a draw. The Mega Database contains two other short draws by Goryachkina with the same move sequence.
In contrast, Tan Zhongyi and Kateryna Lagno played the longest game of the day, lasting 107 moves.
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.
In the Fianchetto Variation of the King's Indian Defence, Lagno deviated from the main theoretical paths with 6...a5 but then followed a well-known idea in this variation with 7...Bf5 and 8...Ne4. After an early queen exchange, a tough middlegame without queens emerged, leading to a bishop endgame with opposite-coloured bishops and five pawns on each side by move 35. Both players sought their chances. After an error by Lagno (34....Bd4?), Tan missed the best opportunity (35.f4), which would have led to a clearly won position. This turned into an exciting passed pawn race.
Both players promoted a passed pawn to a queen, with Lagno having to sacrifice her bishop. After an exchange of the newly promoted queens, another passed pawn race ensued, with both players eventually queening a third time. By then, only 60 moves had been played. Over the next 47 moves, Tan attempted to convert the endgame with a queen and bishop against a queen and pawn, and later a queen and bishop against a queen. On move 107, Black forced a draw by stalemate.
The players could not be accused of a lack of fighting spirit.
However, the drama of the game between Tan and Lagno was even surpassed by the encounter between Humpy Koneru and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.
Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 - Rook + Pawn vs Rook
In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.
In an unusual variation of a type of Bogo-Indian Defence, Koneru achieved a superior position and then sought to decide the game with an attacking piece sacrifice. In exchange for a knight, Koneru gained a significant number of pawns. Despite maintaining a superior position, the Indian player then transitioned into an endgame where her winning chances were significantly diminished.
After an eventful course with inaccuracies from both sides and in mutual severe time trouble, Khadem, after long and tenacious defence, ultimately made a decisive mistake. Humpy reached a clearly winning position, but with the final move of the game, 74.Rh5?, she threw it away.
Khademalsharieh, however, resigned from what was a drawn position.
Thomas Paehtz, who has been following the tournament closely with his daughter, recalled a similar incident nine years ago, also at a Grand Prix tournament, involving the same player (and the same commentator back then).
The two remaining games ended in draws without any major drama. Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Harika Dronavalli split the point, as did Alexandra Kosteniuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva. After a King's Indian opening, the game transitioned into an endgame with a rook and a pair of bishops on each side, where Kosteniuk had the more active position but could not convert her advantage into a win.
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