Merciless knockout
Exactly half of the matches were decided in the classical portion of the round, and half of these were upsets. The 2nd, 6th, 16th and 23rd seeded players had to pack their bags on Wednesday, as their theoretically weaker opponents proved they have what it takes to knock them out in slow time controls.
Humpy Koneru took a hiatus from chess for almost two years, before returning to represent India at this year's Olympiad in Batumi. There, she lost two out of her last three games to finish with a subpar 5½/9. It seems like it will take the Indian some more time to recover her usual high standards of play (although we trust she will), as she was eliminated by 2407-rated Jolanta Zawadzka. After drawing their first game, the Polish WGM first neutralised and then overpowered Humpy with the black pieces.

It was definitely a great achievement for Jolanta Zawadzka
While Zawadzka surprised in the second game, Mobina Alinasab from Iran already arrived in the playing hall on Wednesday knowing that a draw would be sufficient to send Monika Socko home. She had the white pieces and did not recoil from entering a sharp position with her king uncastled. Socko had the initiative in the early middlegame, but Alinasab courageously used her king to support her queenside majority:
Despite being a pawn down — or perhaps because of that — Mobina put all her hope on the queenside pawn-mass moving forward and continued with 30.Kb4. The final position convincingly demonstrates that it was the correct strategy:
missing teaser!!
The 18-year-old Iranian defeated world's numbers 13 and 25 so far, but will have the tough task of facing the 5th highest rated player in the women's ranking in round three — Mariya Muzychuk.

Monika Socko knew it would be hard to come back from Tuesday's loss
Another unexpected 2:0 was attained by 22-year-old Zhai Mo, who took down Nino Batsiashvili after having dispatched Olga Girya in round one. Her Georgian opponent missed a tactic that involved a queen sacrifice in their return match:
Gambit play and the joy of sacrificing is an important part of the improving process. In order to become a strong player you must learn to attack and make combinations. Many continue to play in an aggressive style throughout an entire chess lifetime!
Nino just moved her bishop to f1 when it was absolutely necessary to take her queen away from d2. The idea is that after 21...Bxc4 22.Rxc4 White can take the rook on g3 with 22...Qxg3 — after 23.hxg3, the fork 23...Bxe3+ recovers the queen and leaves Black an exchange up.
In other tournament situations, Batsiashvili would not have taken long to resign, but the knockout format pushed her to keep going until move 53, when she finally gave up with mate-in-one for Black.
Zhai Mo will face her compatriot World Champion Ju Wenjun in round three.

Zhai Mo does not lose focus
The last upset from Wednesday came in the all-Russian match between Alisa Galliamova and Aleksandra Goryachkina, where experience beat youth, as 46-year-old Galliamova stopped her opponent's aggressive attempts in the second game to secure a ticket to the next round. The three-time Russian champion will face yet another youngster, this time from China, 21-year-old Lei Tinjie.

20-year-old Aleksandra Goryachkina will have many more chances in the future
Russians prevail on tiebreaks
All three Russian players that turned up for Thursday's rapid tiebreaks advanced to round three of the Championship. Alexandra Kosteniuk had survived an endgame a pawn down in game two, but was able to recoup and beat Ni Shiqun 2:0 on Thursday; Kateryna Lagno also drew both classical games and won both rapid games to eliminate Hoang Thanh Trang; and Natalija Pogonina played the only match that got to the 10+10 portion against Zhu Jiner. Pogonina managed to finish the very last game of round two in style:
missing teaser!!
White resigned after 48...Qxd2, due to the upcoming knight fork on f1.

It was a long — but finally victorious — day for Natalija Pogonina
Zhao Xue was taken down by Zhansaya Abdumalik, while the surprise of the day was given by Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, who defeated Tan Zhongyi 2½:½ in a tense match — yes, three Chinese players were eliminated on Thursday's tiebreaks.
While three Chinese players were knocked out, three former World Champions went through — besides Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Mariya Muzychuk put their nervous systems to test successfully and are set to stay in Khanty-Mansiysk at least two more days. The younger of the Muzychuks beat Ekaterina Atalik with black after finding a nice tactic in the opening:
Mariya correctly saw that 14...Nxf2 is good for her. After 15.Rxf2 Bc5 16.Qe2 Bxf2+ 17.Qxf2, the pinned bishop falls:
Are you looking for an active defence against 1.d4? Look no further! The Tarrasch Defence (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5) is one of Black's most ambitious ways to meet 1.d4.
The Ukrainian took advantage of her material superiority and won the game in 46 moves.

Mariya Muzychuk knows she could only face her sister in the final match
With a rather important chess event going on in London, Natalija Pogonina trusts that she and her colleagues might steal the show:
Results of Round 2
Ju Wenjun |
(CHN) |
1½-½ |
Krush Irina |
(USA) |
Zawadzka Jolanta |
(POL) |
1½-½ |
Koneru Humpy |
(IND) |
Lagno Kateryna |
(RUS) |
3-1 |
Hoang Thanh Trang |
(HUN) |
Bodnaruk Anastasia |
(RUS) |
0-2 |
Muzychuk Anna |
(UKR) |
Kosteniuk Alexandra |
(RUS) |
3-1 |
Ni Shiqun |
(CHN) |
Galliamova Alisa |
(RUS) |
2-0 |
Goryachkina Aleksandra |
(RUS) |
Muzychuk Mariya |
(UKR) |
2½-1½ |
Atalik Ekaterina |
(TUR) |
Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim |
(UZB) |
2½-1½ |
Tan Zhongyi |
(CHN) |
Gunina Valentina |
(RUS) |
1½-½ |
Ushenina Anna |
(UKR) |
Socko Monika |
(POL) |
0-2 |
Alinasab Mobina |
(IRI) |
Dzagnidze Nana |
(GEO) |
½-1½ |
Lei Tingjie |
(CHN) |
Khotenashvili Bela |
(GEO) |
1½-2½ |
Harika Dronavalli |
(IND) |
Stefanova Antoaneta |
(BUL) |
2½-1½ |
Saduakassova Dinara |
(KAZ) |
Zhu Jineer |
(CHN) |
2-4 |
Pogonina Natalija |
(RUS) |
Abdumalik Zhansaya |
(KAZ) |
3-1 |
Zhao Xue |
(CHN) |
Zhai Mo |
(CHN) |
2-0 |
Batsiashvili Nino |
(GEO) |
All games from Round 2
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.f3 Bc5 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Nc2 Bxe3 11.Nxe3 Be6 12.Bxc4 Bxc4 13.Nxc4 0-0-0 14.Rd1 Nd7 15.Ke2 Nde5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.f4 Nc6 18.Ke3 f6 19.h4 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.Rc1 Rd7 22.g4 h6 23.Nd5 Ne7 24.Nxe7+ Rxe7 25.f5 Kd8 26.g5 hxg5 27.hxg5 fxg5 28.Rg1 Ke8 29.Rxg5 Kf7 30.Rg2 Rd7 31.e5 Rd1 32.Kf4 Rf1+ 33.Kg5 Ke7 34.e6 c6 35.Kg6 Rf3 36.b4 a6 37.Rd2 Rg3+ 38.Kh7 Rg5 39.Rd7+ Ke8 40.Rxb7 Rxf5 41.Kxg7 Rf4 42.Kg6 Kd8 43.Kg5 Rf2 44.a4 Rf1 45.a5 Rf2 46.Rd7+ Ke8 47.Rc7 Kd8 48.Rxc6 Rb2 49.Rb6 Ke7 50.Kf5 1–0
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Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 2568 | Krush Irina (USA) | 2434 | 1–0 | 2018 | D20 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Zawadzka Jolanta (POL) | 2407 | Koneru Humpy (IND) | 2548 | ½–½ | 2018 | C42 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Lagno Kateryna (RUS) | 2556 | Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN) | 2448 | ½–½ | 2018 | C07 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Bodnaruk Anastasia (RUS) | 2426 | Muzychuk Anna (UKR) | 2564 | 0–1 | 2018 | B33 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) | 2543 | Ni Shiqun (CHN) | 2436 | ½–½ | 2018 | C42 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Galliamova Alisa (RUS) | 2432 | Goryachkina Aleksandra (RUS) | 2534 | 1–0 | 2018 | D47 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Muzychuk Mariya (UKR) | 2545 | Atalik Ekaterina (TUR) | 2445 | 0–1 | 2018 | B18 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (UZB) | 2435 | Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2513 | ½–½ | 2018 | C42 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Gunina Valentina (RUS) | 2497 | Ushenina Anna (UKR) | 2440 | ½–½ | 2018 | E04 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Socko Monika (POL) | 2463 | Alinasab Mobina (IRI) | 2236 | 0–1 | 2018 | D25 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Dzagnidze Nana (GEO) | 2516 | Lei Tingjie (CHN) | 2457 | ½–½ | 2018 | A13 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Khotenashvili Bela (GEO) | 2477 | Harika Dronavalli (IND) | 2498 | ½–½ | 2018 | A45 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL) | 2490 | Saduakassova Dinara (KAZ) | 2474 | ½–½ | 2018 | E06 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2379 | Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2465 | 1–0 | 2018 | C26 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Abdumalik Zhansaya (KAZ) | 2473 | Zhao Xue (CHN) | 2478 | ½–½ | 2018 | C42 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Zhai Mo (CHN) | 2352 | Batsiashvili Nino (GEO) | 2465 | 1–0 | 2018 | E21 | WWCC 2018 | 2.1 |
Krush Irina (USA) | 2434 | Ju Wenjun (CHN) | 2568 | ½–½ | 2018 | A06 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Koneru Humpy (IND) | 2548 | Zawadzka Jolanta (POL) | 2407 | 0–1 | 2018 | D37 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN) | 2448 | Lagno Kateryna (RUS) | 2556 | ½–½ | 2018 | A48 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Muzychuk Anna (UKR) | 2564 | Bodnaruk Anastasia (RUS) | 2426 | 1–0 | 2018 | B31 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Ni Shiqun (CHN) | 2436 | Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) | 2543 | ½–½ | 2018 | C93 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Goryachkina Aleksandra (RUS) | 2534 | Galliamova Alisa (RUS) | 2432 | 0–1 | 2018 | C60 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Atalik Ekaterina (TUR) | 2445 | Muzychuk Mariya (UKR) | 2545 | 0–1 | 2018 | A57 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2513 | Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (UZB) | 2435 | ½–½ | 2018 | D25 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Ushenina Anna (UKR) | 2440 | Gunina Valentina (RUS) | 2497 | 0–1 | 2018 | E20 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Alinasab Mobina (IRI) | 2236 | Socko Monika (POL) | 2463 | 1–0 | 2018 | B09 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Lei Tingjie (CHN) | 2457 | Dzagnidze Nana (GEO) | 2516 | 1–0 | 2018 | B90 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Harika Dronavalli (IND) | 2498 | Khotenashvili Bela (GEO) | 2477 | ½–½ | 2018 | B10 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Saduakassova Dinara (KAZ) | 2474 | Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL) | 2490 | ½–½ | 2018 | C54 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2465 | Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2379 | 1–0 | 2018 | A80 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Zhao Xue (CHN) | 2478 | Abdumalik Zhansaya (KAZ) | 2473 | ½–½ | 2018 | D85 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Batsiashvili Nino (GEO) | 2465 | Zhai Mo (CHN) | 2352 | 0–1 | 2018 | A06 | WWCC 2018 | 2.2 |
Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN) | 2347 | Lagno Kateryna (RUS) | 2533 | 0–1 | 2018 | A48 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) | 2502 | Ni Shiqun (CHN) | 2391 | 1–0 | 2018 | C42 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Muzychuk Mariya (UKR) | 2521 | Atalik Ekaterina (TUR) | 2417 | ½–½ | 2018 | B12 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (UZB) | 2268 | Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2462 | 1–0 | 2018 | C65 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Harika Dronavalli (IND) | 2482 | Khotenashvili Bela (GEO) | 2436 | ½–½ | 2018 | B10 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Saduakassova Dinara (KAZ) | 2365 | Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL) | 2453 | 0–1 | 2018 | C55 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2371 | Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2461 | ½–½ | 2018 | C51 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Zhao Xue (CHN) | 2448 | Abdumalik Zhansaya (KAZ) | 2393 | 0–1 | 2018 | A62 | WWCC 2018 | 2.3 |
Lagno Kateryna (RUS) | 2533 | Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN) | 2347 | 1–0 | 2018 | C03 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Ni Shiqun (CHN) | 2391 | Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS) | 2502 | 0–1 | 2018 | C88 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Atalik Ekaterina (TUR) | 2417 | Muzychuk Mariya (UKR) | 2521 | 0–1 | 2018 | D43 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Tan Zhongyi (CHN) | 2462 | Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (UZB) | 2268 | ½–½ | 2018 | A20 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Khotenashvili Bela (GEO) | 2436 | Harika Dronavalli (IND) | 2482 | 0–1 | 2018 | B08 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL) | 2453 | Saduakassova Dinara (KAZ) | 2365 | ½–½ | 2018 | A47 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2461 | Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2371 | ½–½ | 2018 | D70 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Abdumalik Zhansaya (KAZ) | 2393 | Zhao Xue (CHN) | 2448 | 1–0 | 2018 | B04 | WWCC 2018 | 2.4 |
Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2461 | Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2371 | 1–0 | 2018 | E73 | WWCC 2018 | 2.5 |
Zhu Jiner (CHN) | 2371 | Pogonina Natalija (RUS) | 2461 | 0–1 | 2018 | C51 | WWCC 2018 | 2.6 |
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