Women's Candidates: Nana Dzagnidze alone on top

by André Schulz
6/5/2019 – Nana Dzagnidze is having a dream tournament in Kazan, as she now leads the Candidates Tournament on 3½/4 points — her victim in round four was Valentina Gunina. The other winner of the day was Kateryna Lagno, who defeated Mariya Muzychuk and is now in fourth place on a 50% score. Alexandra Kosteniuk drew Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychukk split the point with Aleksandra Goryachkina. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

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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:

 

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:

 

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

 

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Topics: Kateryna Lagno, Nana Dzagnidze, Women's Candidates Tournament 2019
André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.
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Women's Candidates: Kosteniuk defeats Gunina

6/12/2019 – Round ten of the Women's Candidates Tournaments in Kazan finished with three draws and a single decisive game — Alexandra Kosteniuk took down Valentina Gunina with the white pieces. Meanwhile, in the crucial duel of the day, Kateryna Lagno could not overcome clear leader Aleksandra Goryachkina, which means the youngster kept her 2½-point lead over her compatriot with only four rounds to go. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich
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Women's Candidates: Dzagnidze and Goryachkina strike first

6/2/2019 – An exciting round in Kazan resulted in two decisive games at the 2019 Women's Candidates. Nana Dzagnidze played bravely with Black and defeated Anna Muzychuk, while Aleksandra Goryachkina took down Valentina Gunina in 92 moves, after the latter stubbornly defended an inferior position for hours on end. Both co-leaders will have the white pieces on Sunday, when round three will be the last one before the first rest day. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
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The Botvinnik System in the English opening

The setup for White recommended by Valeri Lilov is solid and easy to play – the thematic moves are almost always the same ones: Nge2, 0-0, Bg5 (or Be3), Nd5, Qd2. Later, according to Black’s setup, things continue with f4 or even Rac1, b4 and play on the queenside. Starting with the classic Botvinnik-Spassky, Leiden 1970, the author describes this universally employable setup in 7 videos (+ intro and conclusion).

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