After two rounds of the FIDE Women Grand Prix in Tbilisi, Stavroula Tsolakidou is in the lead with 1,5/ 2, sharing the first position with Bibisara Assaubayeva
Stavroula Tsolakidou commented, “The start of the FIDE Women Grand Prix is pretty good for me, especially my win yesterday. Even though she blundered, the game was quite good. Today I had some chances and I also misplayed a bit after the opening. I hope to continue with better chess”
Many who have followed the games of Stavroula Tsolakidou for years may be surprised to learn, but she shared, “I started playing professionally only a year ago […] I hope to be invited in more tournaments like this”
WGP Series consists of six Women’s Grand Prix tournaments held over two years 2024-2025. A total of twenty players compete in the WGP series, as each Women Grand Prix event will have ten participants. Full information / All games live
Round 1: Bibisara Assaubayeva – Sarasadat Khademalsharieh / Nana Dzagnidze – Lela Javakhishvili / Anna Muzychuk – Mariya Muzychuk / Alina Kashlinskaya – Alexandra Kosteniuk / Stavroula Tsolakidou – R Vaishali
Round 2: Alexandra Kosteniuk – R Vaishali / Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Stavroula Tsolakidou / Lela Javakhishvili – Bibisara Assaubayeva / Mariya Muzychuk – Nana Dzagnidze / Alina Kashlinskaya – Anna Muzychuk
FIDE Women Grand Prix round 1
The first round of the first leg of the 2024/2025 Women’s Grand Prix in Tbilisi saw two victories and three draws. Two-time World Blitz Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Sara Khadem, while Stavroula Tsolakidou stunned Vaishali Rameshbabu after the Indian star misplayed in an even position
After the first round Assaubayeva and Tsolakidou lead with one point, followed by six players on half a point – Javakhishvili, Mariya and Anna Muzychuk, Kosteniuk, Kashlinskaya and Dzagnidze. Vaishali and Khadem start the Women’s Grand Prix with losses.
The games started at 3 PM sharp in the elegant ballroom of Tbilisi’s prestigious Biltmore Hotel. FIDE Secretary General Lukasz Turlej and Akaki Iashvili, Chair of the FIDE Events Commission and President of the Georgian Chess Association, made the ceremonial first move on the Georgian board.
To avoid any chances of foul play, players from the same country were paired against one another, as were the two sisters playing in the event, Anna and Mariya Muzychuk.
The game between the Muzycuk sisters was the first to finish. In a very solid line of the Berlin Defense where Anna played as White against Mariya, both sides were equal without much drama happening on the board. The game finished with a threefold repetition on move 21.
While the two sisters do play harder against one another if they meet at a later stage of the event, when paired in the first round they usually tend to draw. As they confirmed in the post-game interview, they trained and prepared together, and neither had an opening secret that she did not share with her sibling.
In another game, Alina Kashlinskaya and Alexandra Kosteniuk opted for a cautious approach. Kashlinskaya – one of the star members of the Polish Women’s Olympic team – led white pieces against former World Champion Kosteniuk. In the Semi-Slav, White was looking for her chances playing actively, but an early exchange of queens meant that the game entered calm waters.
In a rook and knight endgame, neither side wanted to gamble at the start of the event, so they decided to call it a day.
The 24-year-old player from Greece, Stavroula Tsolakidou was the first to make a break and score in Tbilisi. On the white side of the English Opening, Stavroula ended up with a pair of bishops and was making threats on the kingside, but the position was even. However, on move 25, Vaishali Rameshbabu completely misplayed.
White had more space which gave her some initiative which she was using. Instead of trying to slow White down, Vaishali helped her by exchanging her bishop for a knight on e5, after which she simply lost an exchange and was completely lost.
Even as the game progressed, Vaishali missed options to pose more trouble for White, giving Tsolakidou an easy finish.
The game between Bibisara Assaubayeva and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Sara Khadem) ended with White’s victory. In the Italian, both sides were not playing the most precise moves. Gradually, it was White who grabbed the initiative. Sara (playing as Black) also got into time trouble.
On move 19, Bibisara made a Greek offering to Khadem, placing her rook on f6 and creating a towering position for White with 19. Rf6!!
Despite this, Assaubayeva went on to drop the advantage in the very next move after 19…Ne7 20. a5? but not for long.
Pressure was mounting on Black’s kingside. As Khadem was short on time, Assaubayeva sensed her opportunity. Sara made a mistake giving space for Bibisara to effectively finish the game, after breaking through on the kingside.
Both 34. Nxg5 and 34. hxg5 are equally deadly for Black. Bibisara opted to capture with the knight and wrapped it up six moves later.
The longest game of the day was between the two home players, Nana Dzagnidze and Lela Javakhishvili. In the Benko Gambit, Dzagnidze got a better position as White. From the onset of the game, Nana seemed more confident – which she was showing on the board and on the clock. Gradually, Dzagnidze was building up a breakthrough in the center. However, at some point, confidence gave way to overconfidence: in a position where White was notably better, Dzagnidze made a hasty exchange which put Javakhisvili back into the game.
Dzagnidze just took on e6 with her rook, and Javakhisvili responded with 30…Bd4, hoping to ease the pressure by simplifying. White should have just proceeded by placing her rook to f1, preparing a kingside push. Instead, Nana played 31.Bxd4?! and after 31…cxd4 she made another mistake, 32.Qe4 (Rc6 was key here), after which Black managed to simplify and force a drawn rook endgame.
Clearly upset, Dzagnidze decided to push on in a slightly better position. Making such a gambit this early in the race is a big risk, but Dzagnidze felt her confidence was still there. Gradually, White inched her way ahead but missed her last chance to pose very serious problems for Black on move 53 (53. Rd5+ instead of 53. h5?). The game ended in a draw after just over five hours of play and 66 moves.
Nana Dzagnidze must be unhappy after dropping this chance. It remains to be seen if she will be able to recover in time for the second round.
FIDE Women Grand Prix round 2
The second day of the Women’s Grand Prix Tbilisi concluded with all games ending in draws. However, in at least two of the games, one side was clearly better and on the brink of victory. After two rounds, Assaubayeva and Tsolakidou remain at the top, each with 1.5 points
Vaishali Rameshbabu faced a tough challenge, playing as Black against former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. After starting the tournament with a loss, Vaishali was under significant pressure on day two. Despite achieving a clearly better position as Black, she opted for a threefold repetition, giving away half a point.
The biggest surprises of the day came from the two Georgian players in the tournament, both of whom dropped their winning chances.
First, Nana Dzagnidze, playing Black, chose the French Defense and outplayed Mariya Muzychuk in the early stages of the game. Dzagnidze was completely winning towards the end but, in time trouble, opted for simplifications that allowed her opponent to equalize. Upon leaving the playing venue, Dzagnidze was clearly unhappy, shaking her head and remarking, “Unbelievable.”
The final game of the day to finish was between Lela Javakhishvili and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Javakhishvili came out of the opening with a better position. After a few mistakes by Assaubayeva, the Georgian player was dominating both on the board and on the clock. However, Assaubayeva maintained her calm resistance, eventually making the first time control and entering a rook endgame where Javakhishvili missed several chances, allowing a draw. It was a lucky save for the Kazakh player, who, with this draw, remained in the shared first place.
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh managed to stabilize after her round one loss, drawing as White with Stavroula Tsolakidou in the Nimzo-Indian. Alina Kashlinskaya and Anna Muzychuk also split the point in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, with both playing precisely and not allowing any chances.
Standings after Round 2
Here is a closer look at the games from the second day of the Women’s Grand Prix:
Alexandra Kosteniuk – Vaishali Rameshbabu
After blundering in the first game against Stavroula Tsolakidou, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu needed to make a comeback. However, it wasn’t going to be easy: she was playing as Black against none other than former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Kosteniuk opened with 1.e4, to which Vaishali responded with 1…e6, entering the Classical line of the French Defense. Vaishali made a push on the queenside and started to grow her initiative.
Alexandra has just made a serious error with 29. g4 (instead of reserved 29. Bf2), which failed to a nice combination: 29…Nxe5! White now has to follow: 30.dxe5 Qxg4+ 31.Kf1? (31.Qg2 was slightly better, according to chess engines).
And now, Vaishali repeated the moves: 31..Qh3+ 32.Kg1 Qg4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Kf1 Qg4+ Kosteniuk now called the arbiter, who confirmed the repetition.
Vaishali should have continued with bringing her knight into the attack with Nh4 on moves 32, 33 and 34, followed by Kg8 with a crushing attack, but she didn’t. After the draw was agreed, the Indian player quickly exited the playing hall.
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Stavroula Tsolakidou
On the second board, Sara Khadem was White against Stavroula Tsolakidou. In the Nimzo-Indian, White was looking to make a push in the center, but Tsolakidou countered. It seemed that Black got out of the opening slightly better, but – in Tsolakidou’s own words, she “wasn’t sure how to proceed”.
After exchanging heavy pieces on the kingside, the two entered an endgame with a rook and bishop each and agreed to a draw.
With this draw, Tsolakidou is on 1.5/2, while Khadem got her first half a point.
Lela Javakhishvili – Bibisara Assaubayeva
The last game of the day to finish was between Lela Javakhishvili and Bibisara Assaubayeva. The two played for four and a half hours.
In the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the position was even until move 19 when Black (Assaubayeva) made a mistake.
Here, Assaubayeva had several options to maintain the balance, but decided to start rerouting her knight from a6. 19…Nc7?, undermining the threats to her king.
20.Rfe1 Nd5 Black got her knight in the center, but at what cost? She was under immense pressure, and the king’s castle was in danger.
21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5 cxd5 23.Qd3 (23.Rac1 might be even stronger), and White is clearly better. Black’s pieces are underdeveloped and the king’s fortress is exposed.
As Assaubayeva later said in the post-game interview: “I knew I was weaker, and I tried not to make any more mistakes and see if she can beat me”.
Javakhishvili also was better on the clock. Despite this, she started to struggle and could not work out the best way to convert her advantage. After exchanging several heavy pieces, White emerged with an extra pawn on the kingside but in the rook endgame that followed Assaubayeva showed more confidence in her play, bringing the game to a draw.
Mariya Muzychuk – Nana Dzagnidze
After letting a better position slip in round one, Nana Dzagnidze wanted to set things right in round two. It was a tough task as she was playing as Black against Mariya Muzychuk. In the second French Defence game of the round, things were largely even until move nine when White made an error and prematurely castled on the queenside handing an advantage to Black.
Black has control of the center and her pieces are storming down the queenside. White tried to counter on the kingside but ended up even more exposed as Nana timely sacrificed an exchange and reached a very promising position.
10.f5 Rb811.Qe1 b5 12.f6 gxf6 13.Bh6 Kh8 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Bxf8 Qxf8 16.Qe3 b4 17.Ne2 Black is an exchange down, but she has the initiative, while White’s pieces are still largely undeveloped.
However, at this point, Nana started losing her way.
17…b3?? Keeping up the pressure with 17…a5 was the right choice. 17.cxb3 cxb3 18.a3 e5 19.Nc3? e5? Giving White some breathing space. Still, Black is better, and by move 26, she was completely winning.
In this position 26…Qe8; Qe7 or Qc5 were all strong choices. Instead, Dzagnidze offered a rook exchange with 26… Rd8 and let a large chunk of her advantage slip away. Still, just a couple of moves down the road, Nana missed another chance to secure victory, although it was not that easy to find.
Nana played 28…Nc6? which is OK (Black is still better), but not nearly as strong as 28…Bxe4! indicated by chess engines. The point is that after 29.Qxe4 Qd1+ 30.Qb1 Qd6!! White has no defense against 31…Nc4 (d3 or d7, depending on White’s reaction) followed by 32…Qxa3+ with checkmate in several moves.
When you miss several chances, despite being better on the board, the opposing player feels more comfortable. The game ended in a draw after 46 moves.
Dzagnidze left the playing hall, visibly annoyed at herself.
Alina Kashlinskaya – Anna Muzychuk
In the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the position was largely even during the game, until the end. It was a fight. A lot of things happening in the center, but both played precisely and the outcome was logical, as one of the commentators of the tournament, Keti Tsatsalashvili put it.
Both players are on one point.
Round three pairings and dates
The third round of the first tournament in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Saturday, August 17, at 3 PM local time in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Round 3 pairings:
Anna Muzychuk – Alexandra Kosteniuk
Nana Dzagnidze – Alina Kashlinskaya
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Mariya Muzychuk
Stavroula Tsolakidou – Lela Javakhishvili
Vaishali R – Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
For more information about the event, including news, images, regulations, pairings, and games, please visit: womengrandprix.fide.com
Written by Milan Dinic
Photos: Anna Shtourman
