Lausanne GP: Dzagnidze sole leader

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/12/2020 – With an impressive win over world champion Ju Wenjun, Nana Dzagnidze took the sole lead at the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. Two rounds are left to go and only Aleksandra Goryachkina stands a half point behind the leader — the latest World Championship challenger quickly drew on Wednesday. The other decisive result of the day saw Alexandra Kosteniuk beating Pia Cramling and ending the Swedish's run of eight consecutive draws. | Photo: David Llada

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A sole leader for the first time

When only two days of action are left to go at the third leg of the Women's Grand Prix, a player emerged as sole leader for the first time in the event. Nana Dzagnidze won her fourth game of the tournament and is now ahead of the field on 6 out of 9 points (she lost once, against Harika Dronavalli in round four). Incidentally, the Georgian star will face the two Russians that were sharing the lead after the rest day in the remaining rounds — she will have Black against Alina Kashlinskaya and will play White against Aleksandra Goryachkina in what might turn out to be the deciding game of the tournament.

Both Kashlinskaya and especially Goryachkina decided to call it a day early in round nine, as they drew from the black side of an Exchange French and a Berlin Defence respectively. Anna Muzychuk v Antoaneta Stefanova was a tensely balanced 31-move draw, while Mariya Muzychuk v Zhansaya Abdumalik lasted ten more moves and saw White missing some opportunities to fight for more than a draw. Finally, Alexandra Kosteniuk got her second win of the event, beating Pia Cramling after having lost back to back against the Muzychuk sisters.

Anna Muzychuk

Focused — Anna Muzychuk | Photo: David Llada

Playing Black against the world champion is never easy, but Dzagnidze is not one to shy away from a fight, as she went for a line with opposite-side castling employed, for example, by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov against Magnus Carlsen in a blitz encounter. Starting on move 14, the contenders began to take their time, and the fact that they followed a line already played in a correspondence game until move 20 shows they were on the right track. 

White was playing aggressively on the kingside:

 
Ju Wenjun vs. Dzagnidze
Position after 27...Rec8

Computers do not think Ju's 28.g6 was the most accurate here, but in a game between humans this is the kind of position that can go either way at any moment. However, when the smoke cleared and Dzagnidze offered a queen swap, it was Black who had the better-coordinated pieces:

 
Position after 32.Qd4

After 32...xd4 33.exd4 Black's array on the queenside with the rooks doubled on the c-file and the connected pawns looks better than White's counterpart on the other flank — the knight is rather out of play and the f and h-pawns do not have good prospects. 

Converting the advantage was not trivial, however, as Ju showed her usual resilience from this point on. A knight endgame was reached eventually, and Dzagnidze proved she knew exactly how to exploit her positional trumps:

 
Position after 62.Kd3

With her active king ready to support the connected f and g-pawns, Black gave up the knight with 62...xf3. Twenty moves later, Ju resigned.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Qc2 Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.h3 Nf8 11.Bf4 Ng6 12.Bg3 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.0-0-0 b5 15.g4 D36: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation: Main line (5 Bg5 c6 6 Qc2). a5 16.g5 b4 17.Na4! White is slightly better. Reject 17.gxf6 Qxf6 18.Na4 Qxf3 17...Ne4 18.Rdg1 18.Kb1 feels hotter. Bf5 19.Ka1 Rab8 20.b3 Nf8 21.Ne5 18...Ba6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6
20.Kb1N Predecessor: 20.Ne1 c5 21.dxc5 Nxc5 22.Nxc5 Rc6 23.Ned3 Ne5 24.Kb1 Nxd3 25.Qxd3 Rxc5 26.Rc1 1/2-1/2 (42) Lipiridi, A-Mularczyk,J (2442) ICCF corr 1988 20...Ra7 21.h4 Rc7 22.h5 Nf8! 23.Nh4 aiming for f3. Qe6 24.f3 Nd6 25.Re1 Nd7 26.Re2 c5 27.dxc5 Rec8 28.g6 Nxc5 29.gxh7+? 29.Nb6! Nce4 30.Qd3 29...Kh8-+ 30.Nxc5 Rxc5 31.Qd3 Qf6 Black should play 31...Nc4-+ 32.Ree1 Qf6 32.Qd4 Qxd4 32...Kxh7?! 33.Qxf6 gxf6 34.Ng2= 33.exd4 Rc4 34.Rd1 R4c7 35.Rg1 Kxh7 36.Reg2 f6! 37.Re2 a4 38.Re6? 38.Ng6 38...Nc4-+ ( -> ...Nd2+) 39.Re2 Nd6? 39...a3!-+ 40.b3 Nd6 40.Re6 Nc4? 40...Rd8 41.Re2!-+ a3! 42.bxa3 bxa3 But not 42...Nxa3+ 43.Kb2 43.Ng6 Nd6! Strongly threatening ...Nf5. 44.Nf4? 44.Re7 44...Nf5 45.Ne6 Rb8+ 46.Ka1 Re7 47.Rb1 Rbe8 48.Rbe1 Kh6 49.Nf4? 49.Kb1 49...Rxe2 50.Rxe2 Rxe2 51.Nxe2 Kxh5 Endgame KN-KN 52.Kb1 Ne3 53.Kc1 g5 54.Kd2 Nc4+! 55.Kd3 55.Ke1 f5 56.Kf2 55...Kh4 56.Nc3 Nb6 57.Nb5 Kg3 58.Ke2 f5 59.Nxa3 f4 60.Nc2 Na4? 60...g4!-+ has better winning chances. 61.Ne1 gxf3+ 62.Nxf3 Na4 61.a3 Nc3+ 62.Kd3? 62.Kd2 Kxf3 63.Ne1+ Ke4 64.Kxc3 62...Kxf3 Black mates. 63.Kxc3 KN-K3P Ke2! 64.Nb4
64...f3! 65.Nd3 g4 66.Nf4+ Ke1 67.Nd3+
67...Kf1! 68.Ne5 g3 69.Nxf3 KN-KPP g2 70.Kb4 Kf2 71.Ng5 Kg3 72.Kc5 g1Q 73.Kxd5 Qh1+ 74.Kd6 Kf4 75.Ne6+ Ke4 76.d5 Qh2+ 77.Kc6 Ke5 78.Nc7 Qc2+ 79.Kd7 Qa4+ 80.Ke7 Qxa3+ 81.Kd7 Qd6+ 82.Kc8 Qe7 Accuracy: White = 66%, Black = 82%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ju,W2583Dzagnidze,N25150–12020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.6

Philippe Leuba, Ju Wenjun

Councillor of State and Head of the Canton of Vaud Department for Economics, Innovation and Sport, Philippe Leuba, played the symbolic first move for Ju Wenjun | Photo: David Llada

Alexandra Kosteniuk is having a nightmare of a tournament, so far losing five games and more importantly letting go of crucial GP points in the fight to get a spot in the Candidates. Nevertheless, the Russian is known for her fighting spirit, which she demonstrated during her round-nine encounter against Pia Cramling. 

The Swedish legend had the white pieces and opted for the Catalan. When the complex middlegame was over and the queens left the board, Black had a very slight positional edge due to her better pawn structure:

 
Cramling vs. Kosteniuk
Position after 30...Bf6

This was a case of a player stubbornly looking for chances in a rather balanced position. Throughout the next 60 moves, Kosteniuk kept looking for more, gained a pawn, missed some opportunities, and only got a decisive advantage at the very end, when Cramling blundered on move 91:

 
Position after 90...Kb3

Black played 91.g4 and resigned after 91...c2, due to 92.♖xc2 ♚xc2 93.♗e5 (or anywhere else) and 93...♝c3. In the diagrammed position, moving the bishop was the way to go, although White still needs to be precise to hold the draw.

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.Nf3 0 d5 0 3.c4 6 e6 16 4.g3 0 dxc4 21 5.Bg2 1:47 a6 13 6.Ne5 43 Bb4+ 2:06 7.Nc3 16 Nd5 0 8.Bd2 24 0-0 6:49 9.Nxc4 4:26 Nc6 2:13 10.e3 11:19 Be7 4:16 11.0-0 0 Bd7 16:56 12.Qe2 9:08 Be8 4:59 13.Rfd1 4:08 f5 1:44 14.Rac1 7:27 Rc8 5:03 15.Be1 1:42 Bf6 4:42 16.Nxd5 16:59 exd5 6 17.Na5 8 Nxa5 0 18.Bxa5 4 Qd7 4:30 19.Bb4 5:38 Rf7 15 20.Rc3 50 Qe6 2:04 21.Qc2 1:17 c6 6:09 22.a4 2:41 Bd8 54 23.f3 6:45 Bd7 3:49 24.e4 3:03 fxe4 34 25.fxe4 6 dxe4 57 26.Bxe4 1:51 Qh6 3:04 27.Rf3 4:52 Rxf3 0 28.Bxf3 1 Qe3+ 3:15 29.Qf2 26 Qxf2+ 53 30.Kxf2 2 Bf6 8 31.Bc5 3:51 Be6 14 32.b4 2:48 Bb3 0 33.Ra1 5 Rd8 15 34.Ra3 1:12 Bc4 54 35.Ke3 40 Bg5+ 2:04 36.Kf2 4 Rd7 8:39 37.Rc3 16 Be6 0 38.h4 3:15 Bf6 5 39.Ke3 29 g5 17 40.hxg5 0 Bxg5+ 0 41.Kf2 7:47 Kg7 30 42.Bd1 3:46 Bf6 0 43.Ke3 2:09 Kg6 7 44.Bb3 10:09 Bg4 33 45.Bc2+ 1:12 Kh5 1:45 46.Be4 3:51 Bg5+ 1:15 47.Kf2 15 Bd8 0 48.a5 1:44 Bg5 2:06 49.Kg2 1:29 Bf6 10:23 50.Rd3 16 Be6 27 51.Kf3 2:44 Kg5 2:30 52.Rd2 1:12 Bd5 0 53.Re2 33 Bb3 6:31 54.Rd2 39 Bd8 27 55.Rh2 34 h5 18 56.Ke3 0 Bc7 20 57.Bf3 41 Rh7 2:20 58.Be4 47 Rh8 1:29 59.Kf2 1:02 Re8 4:16 60.Bf3 10 Bf7 4 61.Rh1 0 Bb8 16 62.d5 1:24 cxd5 14 63.Rd1 17 Be5 3:49 64.Bxd5 37 Bxd5 3 65.Rxd5 2 Kg4 5 66.Kg2 37 Bc3 1:30 67.Rd3 48 Re2+ 0 68.Kf1 8 Rc2 9 69.Bd6 30 Bd2 58 70.Rb3 1:49 Bc3 10 71.b5 0 Bxa5 2:31 72.bxa6 6 bxa6 2 73.Ra3 36 Rc6 3:07 74.Ra4+ 19 Kf3 9 75.Bf4 1:29 Bc3 50 76.Ra3 0 Ke4 36 77.Ke2 9 a5 26 78.Ra2 26 h4 12 79.Kf1 25 Bb4 0 80.Kg2 46 Rc3 42 81.Re2+ 1:02 Kd3 31 82.Rd2+ 21 Kc4 19 83.gxh4 8 Kb3 33 84.Re2 1:47 a4 0 85.h5 16 a3 14 86.Be5 35 Rc6 14 87.Kf3 26 a2 25 88.Rb2+ 0 Ka3 3 89.Rh2 33 Rc5 1:30 90.Bb2+ 15 Kb3 2 91.Kg4 40 Rc2 22 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Cramling,P2470Kosteniuk,A25040–12020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.4

Alexandra Kosteniuk

A fighter at heart — Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: David Llada


Standings after Round 9

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
TBPerf.
1
2515
6.0
9
2.50
2630
2
2579
5.5
9
2.50
2574
3
2471
5.0
9
2.50
2570
4
2552
5.0
9
2.50
2553
5
2484
5.0
9
2.00
2553
6
2539
5.0
9
1.50
2553
7
2518
4.5
9
2.50
2502
8
2470
4.0
9
3.00
2481
9
2583
4.0
9
2.50
2453
10
2469
4.0
9
2.50
2472
11
2504
3.0
9
1.50
2386
12
2443
3.0
9
1.50
2398
TBs: Koya, Wins with black, Wins

All games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 c6 9.0-0 b5 10.b3 bxc4 was the old line (10...e5). 11.bxc4 E81: King's Indian: Sämisch: 6th move deviations (including 6 Be3 c6). c5 12.Rb1 cxd4
13.Bxd4N White has an edge. Predecessor: 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Be2 Bd7 15.Nb3 a5 16.Nd5 a4 17.Nd4 Nxd5 18.cxd5 Rc8 19.Qd2 ½-½ (34) Schandorff,L (2520)-Erdogdu,M (2449) Dresden 2008 13...e6 The position is equal. 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Qc2 Ne5 16.c5 Nfd7 17.Nb6 Rb8 18.Nxc8 Rfxc8 19.Bxa6 Rxb1 20.Rxb1 Ra8 21.Bb7 Rb8 22.c6 Nxc6! 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Bxc6
Strongly threatening Rxb8. 24...Rxb1+ 25.Qxb1 aiming for Bxd7. Qxc6 26.Qb2+ e5 27.Ng3 Nc5 28.h3 Nd3 29.Qd2 Nf4 30.Kh2 Qa6 31.a4 Qxa4 32.Qxd6 Qa1
White must now prevent ...Qb2! 33.Qd2 h5 34.Ne2 Nxe2 35.Qxe2 Accuracy: White = 94%, Black = 100%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2579Kashlinskaya,A2484½–½2020E81FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.1
Kosteniuk,A2504Dzagnidze,N2515½–½2020B50FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.2
Abdumalik,Z2471Ju,W2583½–½2020C67FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.3
Stefanova,A2469Sebag,M2443½–½2020D12FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.4
Harika,D2518Cramling,P2470½–½2020D30FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.5
Muzychuk,A2539Muzychuk,M2552½–½2020C67FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20201.6
Kashlinskaya,A2484Muzychuk,M2552½–½2020D43FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.1
Cramling,P2470Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020D91FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.2
Sebag,M2443Harika,D2518½–½2020B51FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.3
Ju,W2583Stefanova,A2469½–½2020D85FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.4
Dzagnidze,N2515Abdumalik,Z24711–02020A48FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.5
Goryachkina,A2579Kosteniuk,A25041–02020E18FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20202.6
Kosteniuk,A2504Kashlinskaya,A24840–12020C42FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.1
Abdumalik,Z2471Goryachkina,A2579½–½2020C67FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.2
Stefanova,A2469Dzagnidze,N2515½–½2020E70FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.3
Harika,D2518Ju,W25831–02020C49FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.4
Muzychuk,A2539Sebag,M24431–02020B24FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.5
Muzychuk,M2552Cramling,P2470½–½2020B90FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20203.6
Kashlinskaya,A2484Cramling,P2470½–½2020E11FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.1
Sebag,M2443Muzychuk,M2552½–½2020B51FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.2
Ju,W2583Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020D85FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.3
Dzagnidze,N2515Harika,D25180–12020A48FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.4
Goryachkina,A2579Stefanova,A24691–02020B08FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.5
Kosteniuk,A2504Abdumalik,Z24710–12020C84FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.6
Abdumalik,Z2471Kashlinskaya,A2484½–½2020C43FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.1
Stefanova,A2469Kosteniuk,A2504½–½2020E10FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.2
Harika,D2518Goryachkina,A2579½–½2020D11FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.3
Muzychuk,A2539Dzagnidze,N25150–12020B24FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.4
Muzychuk,M2552Ju,W2583½–½2020B33FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.5
Cramling,P2470Sebag,M2443½–½2020D12FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20205.6
Kashlinskaya,A2484Sebag,M24431–02020B24FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.1
Ju,W2583Cramling,P2470½–½2020E04FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.2
Dzagnidze,N2515Muzychuk,M2552½–½2020A46FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.3
Goryachkina,A2579Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020A05FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.4
Kosteniuk,A2504Harika,D25181–02020C67FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.5
Abdumalik,Z2471Stefanova,A24691–02020C44FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20206.6
Stefanova,A2469Kashlinskaya,A2484½–½2020E10FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.1
Harika,D2518Abdumalik,Z2471½–½2020C48FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.2
Muzychuk,A2539Kosteniuk,A25041–02020C42FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.3
Muzychuk,M2552Goryachkina,A2579½–½2020C51FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.4
Cramling,P2470Dzagnidze,N2515½–½2020D95FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.5
Sebag,M2443Ju,W2583½–½2020C07FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20207.6
Kashlinskaya,A2484Ju,W25830–12020D38FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.1
Dzagnidze,N2515Sebag,M24431–02020A06FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.2
Goryachkina,A2579Cramling,P2470½–½2020D26FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.3
Kosteniuk,A2504Muzychuk,M25520–12020C11FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.4
Abdumalik,Z2471Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020B33FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.5
Stefanova,A2469Harika,D25181–02020E10FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20208.6
Harika,D2518Kashlinskaya,A2484½–½2020C15FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.1
Muzychuk,A2539Stefanova,A2469½–½2020C70FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.2
Muzychuk,M2552Abdumalik,Z2471½–½2020D86FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.3
Cramling,P2470Kosteniuk,A25040–12020E04FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.4
Sebag,M2443Goryachkina,A2579½–½2020C67FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.5
Ju,W2583Dzagnidze,N25150–12020D43FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20209.6
Kashlinskaya,A2484Dzagnidze,N2515½–½2020D31FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.1
Goryachkina,A2579Ju,W25831–02020D35FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.2
Kosteniuk,A2504Sebag,M2443½–½2020B51FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.3
Abdumalik,Z2471Cramling,P24701–02020B28FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.4
Stefanova,A2469Muzychuk,M25521–02020D11FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.5
Harika,D2518Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020D43FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202010.6
Muzychuk,A2539Kashlinskaya,A2484½–½2020C43FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.1
Muzychuk,M2552Harika,D2518½–½2020B51FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.2
Cramling,P2470Stefanova,A2469½–½2020B06FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.3
Sebag,M2443Abdumalik,Z2471½–½2020C84FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.4
Ju,W2583Kosteniuk,A2504½–½2020A40FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.5
Dzagnidze,N2515Goryachkina,A2579½–½2020D14FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 202011.6

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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