WGP Tbilisi: Exciting round leaves four players tied for first place

Maiden wins

Round 5 of the Tbilisi Women's Grand Prix saw three players grabbing their maiden wins in the single round-robin. Nana Dzagnidze (who beat Alexandra Kosteniuk), Mariya Muzychuk (R Vaishali) and Sara Khadem (Lela Javakhishvili) collected a full point for the first time in the event - in the last round before the rest day.

Khadem, who had only collected ½ point in the previous 4 rounds, reflected:

I was clearly a bit out of shape, so it means a lot that I could win today, and I go to the free day with positive energy.

With their wins on Monday, Dzagnidze and M. Muzychuk joined the leading pack, which also includes Stavroula Tsolakidou and Bibisara Assaubayeva. The co-leaders have 3 points each, while Khadem standing in last place has 1½ points to her name - i.e. it is anybody's tournament with 4 rounds to go.

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Only one game in round 5 lacked excitement, as the three decisive encounters featured kings escaping direct attacks (not always successfully), while the draw in Tsolakidou v. Kashlinskaya saw the Polish player first defending a strategically inferior position and then missing a big chance to score a win.

Following the rest day, co-leaders Dzagnidze and Assaubayeva will face each other in round 6.

Mariya Muzychuk beat R Vaishali with the black pieces | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

Dzagnidze 1 - 0 Kosteniuk

Dzagnidze, Nana2506

1–0

Kosteniuk, Alexandra2488

FIDE Women GP Tbilisi 2024 19.08.2024[CC]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ba6 6.a3 Be7 7.Nf4 d5 8.cxd5 Curiously, Dzagnidze spent 23 minutes before playing this capture - in a theoretical line explored by, among others, So and Matlakov. Bxf1 9.dxe6

A sharp line, allowing Black to keep her extra piece. 9...Ba6 Also playable is 9...Bc4 10.Qa4+ b5 11.Nxb5 Bxb5 12.Qxb5+ c6 13.exf7+ Kxf7 14.Qb3+ Kosteniuk played the text move (...Bf1-a6) quite quickly, though - she was well-prepared in this line. 10.exf7+ Kxf7 11.Qb3+ Ke8 12.Ne6 Qd7 13.Nxg7+ Kd8 14.e4 Nc6 15.Be3 This was the novelty in this game. Engines prefer Black, though their evaluations often favour the player with the extra piece, since they are great defenders. From a human point of view, having the initiative with the white pieces is surely welcome. Na5 16.Qc2 Bxa3

Kosteniuk still had more than 1 hour on her clock before playing this move (to Dzagnidze's 28 minutes). Her decision to gain a pawn thanks to the discovered attack against the knight is not the most accurate in the position. Better is 16...Ng4 and e.g., 17.Nf5 Nxe3 18.fxe3 Black simplifies while getting rid of a potentially dangerous piece. 17.Nf5 Bb4 A second imprecision in a row. The correct move was not that easy to find, though. Stronger is 17...Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Nxe4 19.Nxe4 Qxf5 with a materially balanced position - White is still for choice, but her initiative has somewhat evaporated. 18.Bg5 Rf8 Kosteniuk spent 20 minutes before playing this move. The clock times were even after this long thought. 19.e5

It is now clear why Black should have chosen to simplify the position when she got a chance. 19...Qe6 A crucial mistake. Engines show 19...Kc8 20.Bxf6 Kb7 21.Qe4+ c6 which is quite a miserable line from Black's point of view - she is two pawns down, for a start. 20.Ne3 Be7 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Bxf6+ Rxf6 White emerges a pawn up - and will herself gain a piece with her upcoming pawn push. 23.b4 Nc4 24.Rxa6 Nxe3 Attempting to muddy the waters, but Dzagnidze will showcase her good tactical eye to make the most of her clear advantage from this point on. 25.fxe3 Qxe3+

26.Ne2 Kc8 27.Qc3 Qf2+ 28.Kd2 Qxg2 29.Rg1 Qxh2 30.Raa1 Kb7 31.Rh1 Qg2 32.Rxh7 Rc6 33.Qd3 Qg5+ 34.Kd1 a5 35.b5 Rd6 36.Rc1 Rc8 37.Rc6 Qd5 38.Nf4 Qxd4 39.Rxd6 Qa1+ 40.Ke2 Qb2+ 41.Kf3 The king has escaped all the checks. a4 42.Rdd7 Qc1 43.Ne6 1–0

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.

Nana Dzagnidze | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

The sumptuous playing hall in Tbilisi | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

Standings after round 5

All games

Links

• Official website
• Dinara Wagner stuns the field, wins Nicosia Grand Prix
• Kateryna Lagno wins Astana Women’s Grand Prix
• Kosteniuk wins Women’s Grand Prix in Munich
• Goryachkina, Zhu and Assaubayeva tie for first at New Delhi Grand Prix