Now, as a leader of team Uzbekistan during the Chess Olympiad 2024, Nodirbek Abdusattorov will celebrate his 20th birthday at the chess board. You can follow his live games here

Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s live rating is 2776. Wishing him a 2800 rating soon!

Tan Zhongyi will in today’s third game take White pieces against Kateryna Lagno. Follow the game live:

Aleksandra Goryachkina (GM 2584) vs Alexandra Kosteniuk (GM 2521)

Playing with White, Goryachkina opened with 1.e4. Although she thrives in all three moves, in the past she has always played 1.d4 or 1.c4 against Kosteniuk. The game was a mainstream Spanish Opening and, following the latest trend, Goryachkina decided to prevent the Marshall Attack with 8.a4.

It’s always hard to speculate on the possible opening preparation but Kosteniuk uncorked an interesting novelty (12…Ba8), which had been played many years ago by Geller but has recently been shelved for 12…Bc8. She did spend nearly 10 minutes on her eleventh move so it might also have been an on the spur of the moment decision.

According to the computer, the position was a bit worse for her – Kosteniuk’s bishops seemed slightly more passive due to her pawn structure – but on the other hand there didn’t seem to be an obvious plan for improving White’s position.

After 19…Bg5! followed by 20…Qd7 and 21…Qf5, Kosteniuk began to find good squares for her pieces and the position was equal. A draw was agreed on move 36 after a threefold move repetition.

Goryachkina was quite frank in her post-game interview with Press Officer Anna Kantane . “I’m still warming up in this tournament, not everything is smooth, but I’m doing my best. I haven’t used all of my opportunities yet. My opponent lets me get promising positions, but then she defends pretty well”. See the complete interview here

Kateryna Lagno (GM 2563) vs Tan Zhongyi (GM 2514)

In the popular 3.Bb5+ Moscow variation of the Sicilian Defence, Lagno went for the interesting novelty 11.Re3, recently played by GM Daniil Dubov in a recent 2022 online event. The idea is to swing the rook over to the kingside in some lines or event to work on the c-file in other variations. The main move with more than 1500 games in the database is 11.Nbd2.

After a few minutes to regroup her thoughts, Tan Zhongyi correctly decided tofinish her development and castle on the kingside. After 14…f6 it seemed she was well on her way to equalize the game. Meanwhile, Lagno was playing very fast, clearly in her home preparation.

Already under time pressure, thirty minutes behind her opponent on the clock, Tan Zhongyi went for the premature 16…b5? and after 17.Bg5! followed by 19.Nd3 was already lamenting the weakness of the c5 square.

However, she kept her calm and struck back with 20…b4! followed by a very precise knight manoeuvre, maintaining the balance on the board. After 34 moves both players agreed to a draw by perpetual check.

After the game, Tan Zhongyi was kind enough to attend the press. “I feel a little nervous. I feel like my game is a little tense, and I didn’t completely release myself. I hope it will be better after tomorrow’s break” were her first impressions. She went on to discuss her point of view in the opening. “Lagno’s first 18 moves were played so fast, it was probably all home preparation. Maybe I should have played …b6. I don’t know what she missed, but after b4 I managed to simplify the situation and I am very satisfied with today’s draw”. See the complete interview here

Tomorrow is a rest day. A sightseeing trip has been organized but with so much at stake players might prefer to concentrate on the final two games of the match. The third game is scheduled for Friday, December 2nd at 3pm.

Tournament format and prizes
Under the new knock-out format, players in each of the two brackets or “pools” will play a four-game match (plus tie-breaks, if needed) in order to advance to the next stage, with the final match being played over the distance of six games. The prize fund for this pool is €70,000, while another €110,000 will be at stake in the Women’s Candidates Final, raising the total to a record-breaking amount of €250,000.

Khiva
Established around 1500 years ago, and currently housing a population of more than 90.000 people, Khiva is the former capital of Khwarezmia, and one of the three Uzbekistan historical cities on the Silk road. The inner town, Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th century. Mosques, madrassahs, and minarets are the present day must-see highlights of the city.

Text: IM Michael Rahal  
Photo: Photo: Timur Sattarov and Xushnud Baltaev

Tan Zhongyi (GM 2514) vs Kateryna Lagno (GM 2563)

Barring rapid and blitz, Tan Zhongyi has so far trailed Lagno by 5,5 – 3,5 since their first classical game in 2016. Most recently, they faced each other in the Astana Women’s Gran Prix in September, a critical game for Lagno who went on to win the event.

Also considering that Lagno out-rates Tan Zhongyi by the slightest of margins, she might be considered the favourite in this match-up. However, a four-game match is over very quickly: whoever draws first blood might easily cruise on to the win. Therefore, caution will usually prevail.

Playing with White, Zhongyi went for the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit, a line that she has had experience with both colours. Well prepared, Lagno chose a relatively new idea – 9…Ne8 -, which the World Champion Magnus Carlsen has used very recently. According to the expert commentators of the event – GM Arturs Neiksans and WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili – the move 18.axb4, allowing the exchange of white’s d3-bishop might have been slightly inaccurate. However, Tan Zhongyi played solidly for the rest of the game, preventing Lagno from increasing her small advantage. A draw was finally agreed in a completely equal position on move 40.

In conversation with event Press Officer Anna Kantane, Lagno understood that she might have missed a chance. “I think I had a slight edge, after she gave me the light-squared bishop, but then I was unable to find the right way to proceed” were Lagno’s feelings right after the game. See the complete interview here

Aleksandra Goryachkina (GM 2584), Alexandra Kosteniuk (GM 2521)

A very close match-up, despite Goyrachkina’s higher FIDE rating. In seventeen classical games, Kosteniuk is overall in the lead 6-3 with 8 draws. More importantly, Kosteniuk prevailed in the 2021 World Cup final, in which she defeated Goryachkina by 1.5-0.5, in one of her most important successes.

However, Goryachkina did win the previous 2019 Candidates Tournament, and fought for the World Championship against the current champion Ju Wenjun.

In today’s game, Kosteniuk opened with 1.e4 and Goryachkina defended with the Berlin variation in the Ruy Lopez. Instead of going for the famous ending, Kosteniuk played a fashionable line, introducing a novel idea in the opening – 9.Kh1 and 10.Ng1, relocating the knight to g3. Unfazed, Goryachkina also manoeuvred with her own minor pieces, achieving equality going into the middlegame.

Notwithstanding, after a couple of inaccurate moves Kosteniuk fell into a passive position, and her opponent began to pile up the pressure. With only ten minutes each for the 40-move time control, Goryachkina missed a key move: 34…Qh5 (instead of 34…f5) threatening 35…Qe2, followed by 35…b4 would have led to an important advantage, according to the engines.

Kosteniuk was definitely not satisfied with her performance today. “At some point I did something very wrong and I was very worried about my position, but I was lucky in time-trouble, being able to exchange everything”, a relieved Kosteniuk explained after the game. See the complete interview here

The second game is scheduled for Wednesday November 30th at 3pm.

Sidebar
Under the new knock-out format, players in each of the two brackets or “pools” will play a four-game match (plus tie-breaks, if needed) in order to advance to the next stage, with the final match being played over the distance of six games. The prize fund for this pool is €70,000, while another €110,000 will be at stake in the Women’s Candidates Final, raising the total to a record-breaking amount of €250,000.

Text: IM Michael Rahal
Photo: Timur Sattarov and Xushnud Baltaev

Alisher Sadullaev, the President of the Uzbekistan Chess Federation (pictured below), gave a welcoming speech. “I’m very happy to see those strong grandmasters here in Uzbekistan, probably for the very first time.” He also thanked FIDE for the great cooperation and expressed hope that it would be just the beginning of it. 

Deputy governor of the Xorazm region, of which Khiva is the capital, Sanatbek Salayev, was another guest at the opening ceremony. Radiating genuine warmth, he expressed his happiness and pride in holding such a prestigious tournament in his region.

After the speeches, it was time to draw colours for each game. Traditionally dressed Uzbek ladies presented the players with beautiful caskets with chess queens hidden inside – one with black and the other with white. A player with the higher rating in each match-up had a right to choose.

Aleksandra Goryachkina, the highest-rated player in the event, picked a chest with the black queen inside, thus giving Alexandra Kosteniuk the white pieces in their first game.

In the second pair, it was Kateryna Lagno to take a pick. Again, the right to choose did not bring luck, as Lagno pointed to the box with the black queen inside. Tan Zhongyi will start her Candidates campaign with the white pieces. 

The first games start on Tuesday, November 29, at 3 pm local time. Below you can find the schedule for the event (local times):

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Text: Anna Kantane
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Under the new knock-out format, players in each of the two brackets or “pools” will play a four-game match (plus tie-breaks, if needed) in order to advance to the next stage, with the final match being played over the distance of six games. The Winner of Pool B will proceed to the Women’s Candidates Finals facing Lei Tingjie who has won the Pool A Women’s Candidates.

The prize fund for Pool B is €70,000, while another €110,000 will be at stake in the Women’s Candidates Final, raising the total to a record-breaking amount of €250,000. Chessdom will follow the event with daily news and videos and will broadcast the live games here.

Tournament schedule (GMT +5):
November 28: Arrival Day
Technical Meeting 17:00
Opening Ceremony 19:00
November 29: Round 1, Game 1 – 15:00
November 30: Round 1, Game 2 – 15:00
December 1: Free day
December 2: Round 1, Game 3 – 15:00
December 3: Round 1, Game 4 – 15:00
December 4: Round 1 Tiebreaks – 15:00
December 5: Free day
December 6: Round 2, Game 1 – 15:00
December 7: Round 2, Game 2 – 15:00
December 8: Free day
December 9: Round 2, Game 3 – 15:00
December 10: Round 2, Game 4 – 15:00
December 11: Round 2 Tiebreaks – 14:00
Closing ceremony

Featured photo by David Llada