Women's Grand Prix, Round 8: Kosteniuk remains clear first

by Klaus Besenthal
2/11/2023 – In the 8th round of the Munich Grand Prix on Friday, Alexandra Kosteniuk won against Anna Muzychuk to increase her score to 6.5/8. Nana Dzagnidze, who was second to Kosteniuk before the round, lost to Elisabeth Pähtz and dropped to third place, where she is now level on points with Pähtz. The new runner-up is Humpy Koneru after her win over Alina Kashlinskaya. Kosteniuk's lead over Humpy is 1.5 points with three rounds to go. | Photos: Mark Livshitz (FIDE)
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FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Alexandra Kosteniuk was initially given a pawn by her opponent Anna Muzychuk, but it was a tiny advantage that was to play no part in the outcome of this game. On the contrary, Kosteniuk made a remarkable breakthrough in the endgame with much reduced material, favoured by the unequal bishops:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Bc4 e6 5.Nge2 a6 6.a4 Nf6 7.0-0 d5 8.exd5 exd5 9.Ba2 Nxe2+ 10.Qxe2+ Be7 11.d3
The position is equal, but Black's next move loses a pawn. 11...0-0?! 11...Be6! 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Qxd5 14.Qxe7 Be6 15.Qg5 Qxg5 16.Bxg5 f6 17.Be3 c4 18.dxc4 Bxc4 19.Rfe1 b5 20.a5 Rfe8 21.Rad1
Black is a pawn down, but the opposite-coloured bishops still give her hopes for a draw. 21...Rad8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.f3 Kf7 24.Kf2 h5 25.h4 Be6 26.Rc1 Rc8 27.Ke2 Rc4 28.g3 Rc8 29.Bd4 Re8 30.Ke3 Bd5+ 31.Kf2 Be6 32.Rg1 Bf5 33.c3 Bc8 34.Bb6 Re7 35.Be3 Be6 36.g4
Finally! After a long time of manoeuvering White finally tries to open the position. 36...hxg4 Maybe not the best as the white pawns are rather mobile and dangerous. 36...Bb3 37.gxh5 Re5 or 36...Kg6 were alternatives. 37.fxg4 Rc7 38.g5 Rc4? 38...fxg5 39.Rxg5 g6 offered good chances for a draw. 39.g6+! The pawn on g6 is rather strong and puts Black into danger. Ke7 40.Bd4 Rc8 41.Kg3 Bd5 42.Re1+ Kd7 43.Rd1 Ke6 44.Be3?! More precise was 44.h5! Rh8 45.Kg4 and after Be4 White has 46.Re1 Kd5 47.Rxe4 Kxe4 48.Bxf6 gxf6 49.g7 Rg8 50.h6+- 44...Rc4? After 44...Be4! 45.h5 Rh8 46.Rd4 Bf5 47.Rh4 White is clearly better but still has work to do. 45.Bd4 Rc8 46.Kg4 Rh8 47.h5 f5+ 48.Kg5 Rxh5+ 49.Kxh5 Bf3+ 50.Kg5 Bxd1 51.b4 Bb3 52.Bxg7 Bc4 53.Bd4 f4 54.Kxf4 Bb3 55.Kg5 Bc4 56.Kh6 Kd7 57.Kg7 Bd3 58.Kf7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kosteniuk,A2519Muzychuk,A25221–02023B23FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-238.4

 

Alexandra Kosteniuk is on the verge of winning the tournament in Munich, while Anna Muzychuk has had a disappointing tournament so far with 3.5/8 and 9th place.

Nana Dzagnidze dropped back a little after her loss to Elisabeth Pähtz. With a score of 4.5/8 each, Dzagnidze and Pähtz now share third place. In the game Dzagnidze had given her queen against the appropriate equivalent of R+N+P; but the necessary coordination of her pieces in the fight against Pähtz's queen then failed completely. Another tactical mistake followed, after which nothing more worked for the Georgian:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1 e5 7.Nb3 h5 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.f4 Rc8 11.0-0-0 b5 12.Bd3 Be7 13.Kb1 Nb6 14.Qe1 Nfd7 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Ne2 Nf6 17.Qg3 Bg4 18.Rde1 Bxe2 19.Rxe2 exf4 20.Qxf4 Qe5 21.Rf1 0-0 22.Qh4 Na4 23.c3 Rxc3 24.Rf5 Rxd3 25.Rxe5 dxe5 26.Qe1 Rfd8 27.Rd2 Rxd2 28.Nxd2 Nb6 29.Nf3 Nc4 30.b3 Nd6 31.Ng5 Rc8 32.Kb2 Nh7 33.Nxh7 Kxh7 34.Qd1 Nxe4 35.Qxh5+ Kg8 36.Qf5 Nd6 37.Qd7 Re8 38.Qxd6 Re6 39.Qd8+ Kh7 40.Qh4+ Kg6 41.Qg4+ Kf6 42.h4 g6 43.Qe4 Kg7 44.g4 Re8 45.Kc3 Re6 46.Kd3 Kf6 47.Ke3 Kg7 48.a3 Kf8 49.Qa8+ Kg7 50.Ke4 b4 51.a4 Rd6 52.g5 Rd4+ 53.Kxe5 Rd3 54.Qxa6 Rxb3 55.Qf6+ Kg8 56.h5 Re3+ 57.Kd4 Re6 58.Qd8+ Kh7 59.Qf8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Paehtz,E2464Dzagnidze,N25171–02023B90FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-238.3

 

Elisabeth Pähtz and Nana Dzagnidze now share third and fourth place

Alina Kashlinskaya lost to Humpy Koneru when she was under pressure in a worse bishop endgame and couldn't find the right defence. Humpy Koneru is now sole second, 1.5 points behind Alexandra Kosteniuk and half a point ahead of Dzagnidze and Pähtz.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d4 Nf6 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qe2 Qd4 9.Nd2 Bg4 10.Qd3 Qxd3 11.Bxd3 0-0-0 12.Nc4 Nd7 13.Bd2 Be6 14.Bc3 Nc5 15.Nxe5 f6 16.Nf3 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Rxd3 18.Nd4 Bd7 19.Rad1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.exf5 Kd7 24.Kf1 Kc6 25.Ke2 Kd5 26.Kd3 c5 27.b3 b5 28.g4 Bd6 29.h3 Be5 30.Be1 c4+ 31.bxc4+ bxc4+ 32.Ke3 Bd4+ 33.Ke2 Kc5 34.a4 Bb2 35.f3 a6 36.h4 Kd4 37.Bf2+ Kc3 38.g5 Kb3 39.f4 c3 40.h5 c2 41.Be3 h6 42.g6 Kc4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kashlinskaya,A2491Koneru,H25720–12023C55FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-238.2

 

The opening of the game between Humpy Koneru and Alina Kashlinskaya

Dinara Wagner lost to Zhu Jiner, ostensibly due to a tactical error in the middlegame, but she had another chance in the endgame which she failed to take:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Qc7 11.Bb2 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Qb3 b6 15.c4 Qe6 16.0-0 Bb7 17.Rfe1 Rad8 18.f3 Nd7 19.Qc2 h6 20.Bf5 Qe7 21.Rad1 Ne5 22.Qc3 f6
23.Qc2? A serious error. Better was 23.Qc1 Ba6 24.Bxe5= 23...Rxd1 24.Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Nxc4-+ did not help either. 24...Nxf3+! 25.gxf3 Qxe3+ 26.Qf2 Qg5+ 27.Bg4 h5 28.Qd2 Qg6 29.Qd3 f5 30.Qd6 Qxd6 31.Rxd6 fxg4 32.Rd7 Rf7 33.Rxf7 Kxf7 34.fxg4
The opposite-coloured bishops might give White some glimmer of hope to draw! 34...Ba6? More precise was 34...hxg4 e.g. 35.Kf2 Ba6 36.Kg3 Bxc4 37.Kxg4 g6 38.Kg5 Bd3-+ 35.Be5?! Correct was 35.gxh5! and Black has suddenly problems to win - it is not easy for Black to attack the pawn on h5 and g7 remains vulnerable, e.g. Bxc4 36.Kf2 Be6 37.Kf3 b5 38.Ke4 a5 39.Bc1 b4 40.axb4 cxb4 41.Kd4 a4 42.Kc5 b3= 35...Ke6 36.Bb8 Kd7 37.gxh5 Bxc4 38.Kf2 Bf7 39.Be5 Kc6 40.Bxg7 Kb5 41.Be5 Ka4 42.Bb8 a6 43.Ba7 Kxa3 44.Bxb6 c4 45.Ke3 c3 46.Kd3 Kb3 47.Ba5 c2 48.Bd2 a5 49.h6 Bg6+ 50.Ke3 a4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wagner,D2414Zhu,J24860–12023E49FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-238.1

 

With 2.0/8 Dinara Wagner remains last

Finally, Harika Dronavalli and Zhansaya Abdumalik as well as Tan Zhongyi and Mariya Muzychuk all drew without leaving the draw range - although in both games Black had a certain "moral" advantage.

Results

 

Standings after round 8

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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