Women's Candidates: Nana Dzagnidze alone on top

The first sole leader in Kazan

Nana Dzagnidze played the Exchange Variation of the French Defence against Valentina Gunina and, given the Russian's active style, was able to positionally get the upper hand in the middlegame. White then turned her positional advantage into a tangible edge — her central advance bore fruit by move 24:

The Fort Knox Variation in the French Defence

If you're one of those French Defence players who has been desperately searching for a reliable and easy-to-learn system against White's two main 3rd moves (3.Nd2 or 3.Nc3) then this is the 60 Minutes for you! The Fort Knox variation (3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7!

Gunina pinned the d5-pawn with 24...♜ad8 only to find herself vulnerable to a dangerous discovered attack after 25.♕a1.

Nana Dzagnidze

Nana Dzagnidze has been ruthless so far in Kazan | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

The second win of the day was achieved by Kateryna Lagno, who had the black pieces against Mariya Muzychuk. From an aggressive setup of the Two Knights Defence, Black gave up an exchange and went on to get an attack:

The modern Two Knights

The Two Knights Defence is one of the oldest opening lines in chess history. This DVD is aimed at players of both sides, giving an objective overview of all relevant theoretical lines.

With 33...♞d3, Black got the advantage. There followed 34.♖b1 ♛f2+ and Black had won a pawn. The material advantage was enough to get an eventual win, the first one for Lagno in the tournament.

Mariya Muzychuk, Kateryna Lagno

Mariya Muzychuk v Kateryna Lagno | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Standings after Round 4

Commentary webcast

Pattern Recognition and Typical Plans

On this DVD GM Adrian Mikhalchishin presents games of the World Champions of the past to explain typical patterns and strategic concepts of these games and to show how grandmasters apply these ideas today.