Lausanne GP: Goryachkina and Dzagnidze win

Wins of different nature

Four out of six games in round two of the Lausanne GP lasted 30 or 31 moves, including Nana Dzagnidze's attacking victory over Zhansaya Abdumalik. On the other hand, Aleksandra Goryachkina needed to work hard to get Alexandra Kosteniuk to resign and Pia Cramling was forced to demonstrate she knew how to draw an opposite-coloured bishop endgame two pawns down.

In terms of the GP overall standings, Kosteniuk was the most affected by these results, as she is well in contention for one of the two spots to the Candidates. At the same time, this is only Dzagnidze's second event of the series, and after a subpar performance in Monaco she could still rack up two strong showings in Lausanne and Sardinia to rise through the ranks, something the experienced Georgian grandmaster is perfectly capable of doing.

Gérald Béroud, Executive Vice-President of the Swiss-Chinese Association, made the first move in Ju Wenjun v Antoaneta Stefanova | Photo: David Llada

Zhansaya Abdumalik quickly got in trouble with the black pieces against Nana Dzagnidze. Her decision to open up lines on the kingside allowed her opponent to quickly mount an attack on the light squares:

Anti-London System

On this DVD GM Yannick Pelletier offers Black a repertoire against the London System that you can employ no matter which opening (Systems with d5, systems with g6, Queen's Indian, Queen's Gambit, Benoni, Benko, Dutch) you usually play against 1.d4 followed by 2.c4. Thematic games explain and illustrate the theory and ideas of the repertoire Pelletier proposes.

Weakening your king's position might not seem such a big deal with the queen on the other side of the board, but after 12...g5 Dzagnidze made use of Black's fragility on the kingside with surprising ease. Only seven moves later, she had a killer battery on the b1-h7 diagonal, and there were barely any pieces defending the neglected black king:

With 20.♗xf4 White eliminated the one piece that was defending the light squares. From this point on, Dzagnidze swiftly infiltrated enemy camp until forcing her young rival to resign.

Nana Dzagnidze quickly got the upper hand against Zhansaya Abdumalik | Photo: David Llada

Aleksandra Goryachkina also won, but had a longer day at the office. The last challenger for the World Championship crown gave up the bishop pair for the initiative and got in the driver's seat when Alexandra Kosteniuk carelessly placed her rook amidst White's forces:

Beat the Queen's Indian: The modern Fianchetto Line

This DVD is packed full of new, exciting and novel ideas; based on a repertoire starting with the moves 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 with g3! to follow.

23...♜c4 was a mistake due to 24.♘d2, when there is no way for Black to avoid the exchange of her strong knight on e4, especially due to the x-ray pin along the d-file. Kosteniuk continued with 24...♜b4 (24...♞xd2 was better, at least keeping control of the c-file) but anyway had to give up a pawn after 25.♘xe4 fxe4 26.b3 ♛e7 27.a3 ♜b5 28.b4:

Black's rook looks miserable on b4, so Black has nothing better than to give up a pawn with 28...d4 to open up the fifth rank for her major piece. Kosteniuk showed resourcefulness in defence from this point on, but it was not enough to prevent Goryachkina from eventually grabbing the full point.

The all-Russian battle of Alexandras — Kosteniuk v Goryachkina | Photo: David Llada

Three games finished peacefully after exactly 30 moves, but the fourth draw was the longest struggle of the day. During the five-hour battle Anna Muzychuk got the upper hand against Pia Cramling in a Grünfeld setup. The Ukrainian first gained a pawn in an ending with rooks and bishops of opposite colours, only to see her opponent giving up another pawn in exchange for entering a pure opposite-coloured bishop endgame.

Tactic Toolbox Grünfeld

The most effective, timeproven way to develop tactical abilities, imagination, and the ability to calculate variations, is practice. The 69 exercises on this DVD are taken from grandmaster games and show tactical ideas that are typical for the Grünfeld.

Muzychuk tried to convert this into a win for 25 more moves, but to no avail — her experienced rival knew how to defend this position.

Anna Muzychuk | Photo: David Llada 

Standings after Round 2

All games

Links

• Official site
• Round 1: All draws on day one