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Press release by FIDE
What a round! Excitement until the end, two decisive outcomes which have completely turned around the tournament standings, and just to top it all off - a rook and bishop v. queen positional fortress.
In a fantastic positional game, Humpy Koneru, India's best female player in history, defeated Zhu Jiner and now leads the tournament with only two rounds to go. With games still remaining against Alina Kashlinskaya and Nurgyul Salimova, it's too early to celebrate - but she couldn't have asked for a better situation.
Meanwhile, with her crushing win over Batkhuyag Muntunguul, Divya Deshmukh closed in and will have a shot for the top spot if she can defeat Zhu in Tuesday's game.
The other three games ended in draws, but not without multiple ups-and-downs. Vaishali Rameshbabu and Kashlinskaya got involved in a tactical melee in time trouble, Salimova did her best to grind down a win against a weak d-pawn without success, while Polina Shuvalova and Harika Dronavalli played a close-to-perfect, 98% accuracy game.
Let's take a closer look at the games.
Round 7 results
Mr. Harnish Raja playing the first move in the marquee matchup of the round | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
The ceremonial first move was performed by Mr. Harnish Raja, a prominent businessman from Pune and father of GM Harshit Raja. He played 1.c4 after Humpy indicated the move in her key game against Zhu Jiner. However, Humpy subsequently took back the pawn and opened with 1.d4!
This amazing clash of styles was definitely the game of the day, and possibly the tournament. Trailing Zhu by half a point and playing with the white pieces, Humpy's game plan was quite clear: solid chess, aim for a small opening advantage, and try to grind her opponent down.
Humpy was surprised in the opening: "Today she completely surprised me with the Queen's Indian and I think I misplayed the opening with 12.Bf4 – I should have probably played 12.Rc2 and get the bishop to c1 directly".
But she pushed forward, slowly increasing her positional advantage – a totally different game than the one she played the previous round with black. By dominating the c-file, she eventually claimed control of the c6-square and landed her knight there.
Under heavy pressure, Zhu crumbled and blundered a piece in a long tactical sequence. With regard to her tournament and Grand Prix situation, Humpy didn't want to get ahead of herself: "I just play my game and whatever happens, happens", she said after the game.
Once again, Humpy joined us in the press centre to explain her thoughts during the game. A must-watch video!
Divya scored a crushing win over Munguntuul in the quiet 4.e3 variation against the Slav. She followed up with the trendy 6.Nh4 line, aiming to get an open position with opposite-side castled kings plus the bishop pair.
According to my database, Munguntuul's 13…Rc8 (played after thinking for seven minutes) is too slow – 13…a6 is the preferred move by GMs, with many elite games played in this line.
Divya immediately launched a pawn storm on the kingside, combined with a second pawn front in the centre, pouncing on Munguntuul's king. Things were looking very bleak for the number one female player from Mongolia at that point.
Moment of the day
Despite her knight being under attack, Divya went for the amazing 20.h6!, sacrificing a full piece. Engines already suggest that the position is completely winning for White. Additionally, Munguntuul was running low on time, in a very difficult position to defend.
There was no escape for Black – Divya played the best moves in the position, notched up the win, and joined Press Officer Michael Rahal in the media centre for an interesting post-game interview, in which she discussed the main ideas of the game and speculated on tomorrow's decisive matchup.
"My score with Zhu Jiner is not that good, the last two games I have lost, but there is always time to turn it around", Divya finished her interview on a positive note.
While Divya played the aggressive 6.Nh4 line in the Slav defence, her Olympic teammate Vaishali preferred something a bit slower, albeit very solid, based on a quick exchange of the light-squared bishops.
Going into the middlegame, Vaishali started pushing on the queenside and Kashlinskaya counterattacked in the centre. For more than fifteen moves, they followed a 2009 game between GMs Ilincic and Balogh, which ended in a draw.
Around move twenty, although the position was symmetrical and with total equality, Vaishali started to get into serious time trouble. Kashlinskaya sacrificed a pawn for great compensation and approaching the time control won her opponent's queen in exchange for a rook, a bishop and a pawn.
Although the game went on for quite a few moves, the final result was very clear, as White built an unbreakable fortress.
Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
For this important game, Harika chose the ultra-solid Petroff Defence. As usual, Shuvalova came to the game with excellent opening preparation, based on a couple of 2023 GM games.
With a timely positional pawn sacrifice, Harika took control over the light squares, traded off major pieces and secured a comfortable draw in an opposite-coloured bishop ending.
Polina Shuvalova v. Harika Dronavalli | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
This was a high-quality game by both players, with both clocking an impressive 97.6% accuracy. Salimova had the upper hand most of the game, basically because of a constant pressure on her opponent's isolated d-pawn.
However, despite Nurgyul's efforts, Salome's accurate defence forced the Bulgarian to admit the equality on the position. The game was drawn on move fifty-seven.
The playing hall during round seven | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
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