A draw with Mariya Muzychuk in the last round of the Gibraltar Women’s Grand Prix was enough for Kateryna Lagno to secure a spot in the next edition of the Women’s Candidates Tournament. The one scenario in which the Russian would have failed to qualify was not so far from happening, as Muzychuk did not go for the most trying continuation nearing the end of the game while Nana Dzagnidze had a superior position against Valentina Gunina at some point in their lengthy encounter. | Photo: John Saunders
Zhansaya Abdumalik secured first place in the penultimate round of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at the Caleta Hotel on 1 June after agreeing a very quick draw with Kateryna Lagno of Russia. The quick cessation of hostilities suited both players as Zhansaya wins the tournament while Kateryna will have it in her own […]
In this opening Black opts for active piece play and is not afraid to fight for the initiative from an early stage. One of the many good features of this opening is that Black is often the side which controls the pace of the game. €29.90
A short power outage
The very exciting ninth round on Monday was followed by a quieter one on Tuesday, in which the players went through a 20-minute power outage in the playing hall at around the early middlegame phase of the encounters. By then Zhansaya Abdumalik had already secured tournament victory, as she had quickly agreed to a draw with Kateryna Lagno.
Thanks to back-to-back wins in rounds 7 and 8, Zhansaya Abdumalik is now leading the standings of the Women’s Grand Prix in Gibraltar by a full point over closest pursuers Gunay Mammadzada and Mariya Muzychuk. Mammadzada is making a strong impression on the Rock, as she collected three consecutive victories in rounds 6-9, coincidentally over the three Russian participants. <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/gibraltar-women-gp-2021-live">Follow the games of round 9 live with commentary</a>. | Photo: David Llada
IM Zhansaya Abdumalik, of Kazakhstan, increased her lead to a full point over the field in round eight of the Gibraltar leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix