More :Superbet Chess Classic 2023
TePe Sigeman 2023: Participants and information / All games live games / News on Twitter

The final, eleventh round of the third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix cycle ended with all three tournament leaders drawing their games and finishing on six points. Aleksandra Goryachkina was awarded first place for having better tiebreaks.

As per tournament regulations, all prize money and WGP points were divided equally among the players with an equal final score. This means that Goryahckina, Assaubayeva and Zhu all got 12,333 euros and 133 points each.

How the final round unfolded

The first one to finish, after around two hours and 45 minutes of play, was China’s Zhu Jiner. Playing as Black against Nino Batsiashvili, the position was even and after forced exchanges of heavy pieces, the two agreed to split a point. With this draw, Zhu reached her third GM norm (having collected the first two in the previous two tournaments of the Women’s Grand Prix – in Astana and Munich). China and the world now have a new Grandmaster – Zhu Jiner.

Just a few minutes after Zhu, Aleksandra Goryachkina – the other of the three favourites – drew as White with India’s top player and world number two, Humpy Koneru. In the Queen’s gambit accepted, both sides played precisely. It was a balanced game, ending in an even position.

Some 15 minutes later, Bibisara Assaubayeva (one of the three leaders) agreed to split a point with Kateryna Lagno. In the Reverse Benoni, Assaubayeva had slightly more initiative, but it was overall even. With this tournament in New Delhi, Bibisara Assaubayeva also achieved her second Grandmaster norm.

After more than five hours of play, Polina Shuvalova beat Harika Dronavalli in the Ruy Lopez, while Vaishali Rameshbabu lost a drawn-rook endgame to Nana Dzagnidze.

The final standings of the third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi:

The overall standings in the Women’s Grand Prix 2022/2023 series

With a total of 308 points, China’s Zhu Jiner is currently in the lead in the overall standings of the Women’s Grand Prix. She is followed by Aleksandra Goryachkina, who is on 263 points, while Alexandra Koteniuk (who skipped New Delhi) is in third place on 250, closely followed by Kateryna Lagno, who is on 245 points.

Zhu’s lead is, however, only symbolic. New Delhi was her third and final appearance in this edition of the WGP cycle. (In the previous events, she secured a third-place finish in Astana, earning 110 points, and fetched another 65 points in Munich.) She will be overtaken after the next and final leg of the Women’s Grand Prix, where top favourites such as Goryachkina, Kosteniuk and Lagno will take part. Still, New Delhi will be a memorable tournament for Zhu as in this event she has also secured her third Grandmaster norm.

With this victory in New Delhi, Aleksandra Goryachkina now has 263 points and is currently in second place in the overall standings. Goryachkina came in second in the first tournament in Astana (where she collected 130 points), and first place in New Delhi got her additional 133 points. As this was her second tournament in this WGP cycle, Goryachkina is due to play in the fourth and final leg, which will take place in Cyprus in May. This makes her a very strong contender for the winner of the 2022/2023 edition of the Women’s Grand Prix.

The event in Delhi was also the second tournament in the WGP cycle for Bibisara Assaubayeva. Having collected just 30 points in Astana in the first tournament, second place in New Delhi and 133 points boosted her place in the overall standings, as well as her chances to reach one of the top places in this edition of the WGP.

The tournament in New Delhi was the third in a series of four which make up the Women’s Grand Prix (WGP). Altogether 16 players are taking part in the series, with each participating in three of the four tournaments. The two players who score the greatest number of cumulative points in the series shall qualify for the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2023-24. 

The next and final event in the Women’s Grand Prix cycle will be held in Cyprus between the 15th and 28th of May.

Round 11 Games Recap

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno

Kateryna Lagno is the more senior player of the two – both in experience and titles won but also in the overall score: the two have played 25 games – and Lagno leads 12:4.

Once again, in a game where Bibisara was playing with white pieces, we saw the Reverse Benoni. Both sides fought for control of the dark squares in the centre. On move 11 Lagno deviated from the book theory and introduced a novelty 11…Rb8 and reached equality.

However, instead of slow manoeuvring Kateryna came up with an interesting pawn push 17…b5, sacrificing a pawn for control over the d5-square. Bibisara opted for a reserved 18.b3, but chess engines suggest that 18.d5! exd5 19.cxb5 is much more unpleasant for Black.

As played, White emerged slightly better thanks to some space advantage, but with just a single weakness in her camp Lagno had no problem holding her ground. Soon the two went for a threefold repetition.

With this draw, Bibisara finished the tournament with six points and shared first place.

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Nana Dzagnidze

Out of the six games the two have played, Nana has won four and Vaishali two.

In a rare variation of the Caro–Kann, following known lines, Dzagnidze went for a forced exchange of queens at the price of some falling slightly behind in development.

However, even this White’s tiny advantage gradually evaporated, and the two were heading to a draw in an equal endgame. Unfortunately for Vaishali, she started losing control over the position until she made a fatal blunder.

Black is slightly better, but White has to demonstrate accuracy. However, after 50.g5?? (50.c5+ was called for) Nana was simply winning. 50…fxg5 51.fxg5 Rc3 52. Kd4 e5+! 53. Ke4 b3 and Black’s b-pawn will cost White the rook. 

This was the only victory for Dzagnidze in this tournament. She finished with 3,5 points. With this defeat, Vaishali ended the tournament in New Delhi in last place, with just two points. During this event, the young Indian player – who joined at the last minute as a replacement – showed great courage and talent. The tournament in New Delhi will be an important learning curve in her career.

 Nino Batsiashvili – Zhu Jiner

Nino Batsiashvili had a tough tournament in Delhi, and it seems that only in the final rounds she found her element. On the other hand, Zhu Jiner was consistent throughout, not suffering a single defeat.

Nino and Zhu played three times, with two draws and one victory for Zhu. The Chinese player was a slight favourite in this match.

Following 1.d4 by Nino, Zhu opted for the flexible Nimzo-Indian Defence, which was a novelty in her repertoire at top events. After exchanges, the two converted into the Ragozin Defence.

By castling long, Nino has just introduced a novelty. After 13…Qe7 14.Bd3 Bc6 she played 15.f4, planning to push the g- and h-pawns next. A provocative approach, giving up a pawn for the initiative.

Black accepted the sacrifice, but Zhu then decided to avoid sharp lines and returned the pawn to trade the queens, steering to an even position.

Batsiashvili tested Zhu a bit longer and even sacrificed an exchange, but it all came down to a drawish opposite-coloured bishop endgame in which the two called it a day. 

Zhu finished the tournament with six points, having suffered no defeats.

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru

This was a game between two experienced heavyweights in women’s chess. The two are currently tied for second place in the newest FIDE rating list. Both have played seven games so far, with each winning two, and three games ending in a draw.

Humpy went for the Queen’s gambit accepted in which Aleksandra opted for a line with an early queens exchange. White had a tiny edge throughout the game but it was not enough to turn it into something tangible.

It was a pretty balanced game where both sides played within the limits of their positions and did not try to push hard. By move 29 they transitioned into a rook and bishop endgame. Black had a weak pawn on c6 but defended it well with a more active king and pieces. Goryachkina went for a threefold repetition.

A draw was enough for Goryachkina to end up in the shared first place, with two other players on six points.

Harika Dronavalli – Polina Shuvalova

Out of the six games the two have played so far, both Harika and Polina have an equal number of victories – three each.

This was only the third time in the tournament that Harika played as White, so she was looking to use her chances. 

In the Anti-Marshall of Ruy Lopez Harika essayed 8.Bd2 line but did not achieve much. 

Here Black struck in the centre with 15…d5. Harika opted to take on e5 with her knight and ended up in an inferior position, while a better option was dxe5 with Bf4. Shuvalova had two bishops and a clear plan of pressuring the e5-pawn and activating rooks, which she started implementing.

Unfortunately for White, she did not demonstrate accuracy in defence and Black gradually took control of the game. Shuvalova won a pawn but was significantly worse on time at some point.

Dronavalli continued to err and soon allowed Black to advance on the kingside and put her rooks on White’s second rank. Although Polina’s conversion was not ideal, she eventually transposed into a bishop vs. knight endgame with two extra pawns.

Just past six in the afternoon in New Delhi, Harika Dronavalli resigned. This was the last game of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi.

“Chess is coming back to India”

The closing ceremony of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi marked the end of a two-week event which made history in India.

The Women’s Grand Prix in India wrapped up with a closing ceremony at the Leela Hotel in New Delhi. The event brought together chess players, fans, officials, and government representatives to celebrate what many are calling a milestone for Indian chess.

Dr. Sanjay Kapur, President of the All India Chess Federation, thanked the organizers and players for their hard work, noting that the tournament started with hiccups but ended on a high note. He went on to say that the return of chess to India is a significant development for the country and predicted that in five to six years, India will become the number one chess nation in the world. The audience erupted in applause.

“Chess coming back to India is a great thing for all Indians… This is a land of chess and chess coming back to its home. Many more players will come [from India]. Five-six years from today, we will be the number one chess nation in the world… We hope that chess will be played in every home in India, and that is our plan”, Dr Kapur said.

Jagadish Mitra, Senior Strategic Advisor at Tech Mahindra and the key sponsor of chess in India, also announced further support for the game.

“We have been committed to promoting chess in India for some time now, and we are delighted to continue doing that. In June, we will be sponsoring the Global Chess League (GCL), further demonstrating our dedication to this wonderful game not just in India but across the globe.”

One of the highlights of the evening was the speech of Mrs Sonal Goel, a high-ranking official of the Indian Administrative Service. Goel praised the importance of chess in personal and social development, but her following sentence brought the most applause from the audience and signalled what place chess is set to have in Indian society.

“Chess belongs to India and we are all committed to ensuring that our young generation has an interest in chess as they do in cricket”, Goel said to which the audience erupted with huge applause.

Finally, all participants of the Women’s Grand Prix, including the top players in the event – Aleksandra Goryachkina, Bibisara Assaubayeva, and Ju Jiner – took to the stage to receive their awards. Wearing a vibrant red dress, Aleksandra Goryachkina beamed with joy as she was presented with a colossal trophy and medal by a group of esteemed Indian dignitaries.

Results of Round 10:

Kateryna Lagno – Harika Dronavalli, ½ – ½ 
Polina Shuvalova – Aleksandra Goryachkina, ½ – ½
Humpy Koneru – Nino Batsiashvili – ½ – ½ 
Zhu Jiner – Vaishali Rameshbabu – 1 – 0

Nana Dzagnidze and Bibisara Assaubayeva had a rest day.

FIDE Women Grand Prix New Delhi so far: Report round 1 / Report round 2 / Report round 3 / Report round 4 / Report round 5 / Report round 6 / Report round 7 / Report round 8 / Report round 9

Parallel: FIDE Women Candidates Chess 2023 / Report round 1 / Report round 2 / Report round 3 / Report round 4

Starting soon: Nepo – Ding 2023 game 1 LIVE , part of the World Chess Championship 2023

The 10th round of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi started quietly with quick draws. Aleksandra Goryachkina was happy to split a point as Black against Polina Shuvalova after White decided to repeat moves in the early stages of the Catalan. It seems that Shuvalova has given up hope, while for Goryachkina a draw was enough to reach a shared first place ahead of the final round.

The second quick game of the day was between Katerina Lagno and Harika Dronavalli. In the Berlin of the Ruy Lopez, the two went for a drawish exchange line and reached an even pawn endgame. Lagno now has 4½ points while Dronavalli is on 3½.

The only decisive outcome of the day was produced in the game between China’s Zhu Jinerand India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu. Despite getting a solid position in the Benoni, Vaishali misplayed in the middlegame, and Zhu had no problem winning. This was a critical victory for Zhu as she now has 5½ points and has reached shared first place with Assaubayeva and Goryachkina.

Humpy Koneru (playing as White) had a solid chance against Nino Batsiashvili in the Ragozin but failed to convert. Black had some initiative after the opening but could not find the best way forward, handing the advantage over to White. Despite creating a free-runner on the queenside, Humpy did not manage to convert this into a winning advantage and the game ended in a draw.

Nana Dzagnidze and Bibisara Assaubayeva had a rest day today.

In the final, 11th round, Assaubayeva faces a tough challenge against Kateryna Lagno, Goryachkina is up against Indian heavyweight Humpy Koneru, and Zhu Jiner plays as black against Nino Batsiashvili. Zhu has one more thing at stake – if she draws or wins her game in the last round, she will become a Grandmaster! With everything in the air and the closing ceremony scheduled to start at 7 PM local time on Thursday, the final round will start at 1 PM.

Here follows a closer look at the games of the penultimate round of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi.

Kateryna Lagno – Harika Dronavalli

This was a game between two very closely matched opponents who know each other well. Lagno and Harika have played 44 games so far, and the score is 11 wins for Lagno and 12 for Harika. It was the third consecutive game in which Lagno was playing as Black, due to two other players dropping out of the tournament after the pairing has already been made.

This was a quick and largely uneventful game. Harika opted for the Berlin, and the opponents reproduced several well-known drawn games (Yang Wen – Li Di, Tari – Grischuk, to name a few) without making a single original move. As they reached the 30th move, after just over an hour of play, the two decided to draw.

Polina Shuvalova – Aleksandra Goryachkina

The two have played 16 games so far. Two wins for Polina and five for Goryachkina.

This was the first game of the day to finish, and it lasted just under half an hour. In the Catalan, Shuvalova offered to repeat moves as early as move 11, while Goriachkina had no objection. A draw was agreed on move 15. 

Shuvalova has four points, but with this game she is suggesting that she just wants the tournament to finish so she can move on. Goryachkina, on the other hand, has everything to play for and was satisfied with a draw as Black.

Humpy Koneru – Nino Batsiashvili

The two have played only five games until now. Humpy leads 3:1 with one draw.

The game progressed very slowly – both sides spent a lot of time in the opening. In a sharp line of the Ragozin, playing with white pieces, Humpy managed to come out of the opening in a slightly better position. On move 11, Black had to choose between so-called hanging pawns and an isolated pawn. Unlike Haik Martyrosyan in his game with Pragg, Nino opted for the former, and a fresh position emerged on the board. 

Nino decided to push d5-d4. After a series of logical moves, Black decided to voluntarily give up her c5-pawn for more activity but did not get sufficient compensation.

Now Nino made an error. White was already a pawn up and had a solid position, so Black needed to play more actively if she wanted to do something with her initiative. The best option was 19…Qg5, pressuring e3 and g2 squares and activating her queen, or 19…Ne5, x-raying White’s queen down the c-file.

Nino instead played 19…a5? and White now has a considerable advantage. 20.Bf5 and 21.Rd1, with then placing the rook on d7 was a path to victory. Humpy instead played20.Qb3? and retained just a slight edge.

An exchange of pieces on the queenside followed, and White ended with a free runner on the b-file, which was not that easy to advance.

After 30.Rb7 Rxb7 31.Nxb7 Qe4 White gave up her b-pawn 32.Nd6 Qb1+ 33.Kh2 Nb4 34.Qc4. Humpy had a slightly better position, but with all the pawns on the kingside, it was not enough for victory.

After four hours of play, the players agreed to split a point.

Zhu Jiner – Vaishali Rameshbabu

Despite both Zhu and Vaishali belonging to similar age groups (Zhu is 20, Rameshbabu is 21), the two have met only three times until this duel in New Delhi. In their previous matches, Zhu scored two victories and one game ended in a draw.

Zhu opened with 1.d4, and Black went for a rare version of the Benoni defence. Vaishali got a decent position out of the opening, but she started misplaying in the transition to the middlegame.

The position is equal. Both sides have castled, and both have achieved decent development. White has more control of the centre but Black holds the e-file with the rook and has counterplay.

The most logical continuation for Black was to proceed with developing the queenside with either 10…Bf5, 10…Nbd7 or 10…Na6 even. Vaishali instead chooses the line with 10…Ne4.

After 11.Nxe4 Rxe4 12.Bd3 Re8 13.Bg5 Bf6 14.Qd2 Nd7 White was better: Zhu kept her control of the centre, all the pieces had been developed, the bishops were well coordinated, and the rooks connected. Black, on the other hand, still had to develop her queenside.

Zhu continued with a side pawn advace 15.h4, which has become a trend lately. Vaishali responded with a counter-attack on White’s centre with 15…b5 but after 16.b3 bxc4 17.bxc4 erred with 17…Ba6? The bishop is attacking the c4-pawn, but there doesn’t seem to be any immediate danger for White on that side. Black should have instead played 17…Ne5 or 17…Bxf6, to ease off the pressure on the kingside.

A few more moves and exchanges down the road (each of them worsening Black’s position), White emerged clearly better.

Here Vaishali offered to exchange queens, to immediately stifle White’s initiative, but Zhu – understandably – refused. Black proceeded with sending her queen to White’s back rank and checking the white king, hoping to get some chances, but this sortie quickly backfired.

After Vaishali gave all the checks, there was nothing else she could do at this stage to protect her kingside weaknesses. White now had everything ready to launch a mating attack.

28.Re8 Nb2 29.Ne4 Nxc4 30.Nf6+ Kg7 31.Qe7 and Black resigned 1-0

Zhu now has 5½ points and is in the shared first place, alongside Bibisara Assaubayeva and Aleksandra Goryachkina. Vaishali is still on two points, with four draws and no victories in the event.

Standings after Round 10:

Round 11 of the third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix will take place on Wednesday, 5th April at 1 PM local time. 

The pairings of Round 11 (final round) are:

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Kateryna Lagno
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Nana Dzagnidze
Nino Batsiashvili – Zhu Jiner
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Humpy Koneru
Harika Dronavalli – Polina Shuvalova

The Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi entered its decisive phase as Round Nine unfolded, with players gearing up for the final push in the remaining days of the tournament. Here are the results of today’s games:

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Nana Dzagnidze, ½ – ½
Vaishali Rameshbabu – Humpy Koneru, ½ – ½
Nino Batsiashvili – Polina Shuvalova, 1 – 0
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Harika Dronavalli. 1 – 0

Kateryna Lagno and Zhu Jiner had a rest day.

FIDE Women Grand Prix New Delhi so far: Report round 1 / Report round 2 / Report round 3 / Report round 4 / Report round 5 / Report round 6 / Report round 7 / Report round 8

Parallel: FIDE Women Candidates Chess 2023 / Report round 1 / Report round 2 / Report round 3 / Report round 4

Starting soon: Nepo – Ding 2023 game 1 LIVE , part of the World Chess Championship 2023

With just two rounds to go, Bibisara Assaubayeva is in the lead with 5½ points. After eight consecutive games (she was free on day one), Assaubayeva will not play in the tenth round as she has another rest day. She is closely followed by Aleksandra Goryachkina, who is in second place after today’s victory. Ju Jiner (who had a rest day today) is on 4½ points.

In today’s round, Bibisara Assaubayeva drew in the Neo-Catalan against Nana Dzagnidze. Assaubayeva, playing as White, had more initiative but couldn’t find a way to convert it into a decisive advantage. In the end, both were happy with a draw. 

In another Catalan, Aleksandra Goryachina defeated India’s Harika Dronavalli. The Indian player had more initiative but misplayed in the middlegame and ended up with two pawns down. Despite putting up fierce resistance, Goryachkina brought her opponent to defeat after just over four hours of play.

Round Nine was lucky for Nino Batsiashvili, who scored her first victory in the tournament. In the Nimzo-Indian, playing as White against Polina Shuvalova, she took advantage of Black’s mistakes in the middlegame and won.

Compatriots Vaishali Rameshbabu and Humpy Koneru had a peaceful debate in the Ruy Lopez and agreed to split a point after 31 moves.

Here follows a closer look at the games of Round Nine:

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Nana Dzagnidze

Before this game, the two played five games in total. The small number of games is probably because the two belong to different generations. Bibisara has three victories, while Nana has only one, with one game ending in a draw.

In the Neo-Catalan accepted, Bibisara deviated from the played lines on move nine, castling her king (other previously played lines include 0-0, Nxd7 or Na3) and got a tiny edge thanks to two bishops. The first important moment happened on move 17. 

In the post-game interview, Dzagnidze said that she ‘wasn’t sure’ about the 17…f5 move, as it opens some weaknesses in Black’s camp. The game proceeded with a lot of positional regrouping around the centre, hoping to advance.

However, it seemed that Black was the side which had to wait and react to White’s actions. Assaubayeva opted to exchange dark-squared bishops and prepare a d3-d4 push through the centre. 

After several inaccuracies by Nana, Bibisara obtained a serious advantage. She had isolated d4-pawn, but this factor was outweighed by her serious pressure in the centre and on Black’s downward e6-pawn. 

Dzagnidze tried to wriggle out by 33…Rxd4, and it worked, but only because Bibisara wasn’t precise. She took on e6 with her knight when it was better to play 34.Bc6 first and then take on e6 with a rook. Playing 34.Nxe6 straight away Bibisara overlooked 34…Rd1!, which allowed Black to exchange some pieces and simplify the position.

White was still better, but by move 37, her advantage dissipated, and the two soon agreed to draw.

With this draw, Bibisara Assaubayeva is still at the top, with 5½/9, while Dzagnidze has 2½ points.

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Humpy Koneru

This was another Indian clash. Out of 14 games played, Vaishali has three victories, while Humpy has six.

In a rare line of the Ruy Lopez, the two quickly exchanged central pawns and the queens, heading towards an endgame in which Vaishali exerted some pressure on the queenside.

The best option for White was 17.Na5, to probing Black’s weakness and hampering her development. Instead, Harika opted for 17.Be3, allowing Black to activate her c8-bishop.

It led to an equal position, and the two soon agreed to draw. A fourth draw for Vaishali, who now has two points, while Koneru has 3½ points.

Nino Batsiashvili – Polina Shuvalova

The two have played four times so far, and Nino has two victories while Polina has one.

In the Nimzo-Indian defence, the two entered the Saemisch variation and followed the footsteps of Salem and Moussard (Dubai 2021) up to move ten, where Nino deviated with a very aggressive but questionable 10.f3-f4?! 

White has an impressive pawn center but has to be careful of overstretching, as it can easily become a weakness. Polina hastily castled (10…cxd4 11.cxd4 h5 looks stronger), and a very sharp game was on. 

Shuvalova spent significantly more time in the opening, suggesting that she was surprised by White’s preparation. Still, she countered well by timely chipping away at White’s center by b7-b5 and got a potentially very strong connected c and d pawns. 

Black is clearly better here. Chess engines suggest 20…Rae8, but Polina preferred 20…Ne7 and then launched operations on the “wrong” flank and allowed White to push the b-pawn to b6, giving her some advantage. It was the start of Shuvalova’s fall. She made several inaccuracies in a row and found herself in a very dangerous position. 

Black needed to move her queen away from the pinned c-file and suffer after 27…Qf6 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.Be5. Shuvalova instead decided to take on d4, ending in a net of pins on the c5 pawn.

White could have won on the spot on move thirty with 30.b7!, but Batsiashvili opted for 30.Qc3 and left some chances for Black. Still, Nino preserved a large part of her advantage.

Shuvalova’s best option was to exchange her knight for the bishop on e5 but she played 33…d4? instead, further weakening her central pawns.

The rest of the game was a walk in the park for White as her passers advanced much faster. Shuvalova soon resigned.

It is the first victory for Nino Batsiashvili in the tournament, who lost an overwhelming position in the eighth round. She played seven games so far in New Delhi and is now on 2½ points. Shuvalova remains on 3½.

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Harika Dronavalli

Out of 13 games played, Goryachkina has four victories, while Harika has two.

The two tested a long theoretical line Catalan, in which White sacrifices an exchange for a bishop and a pawn and gets sufficient compensation. Up to move 23 (!), the opponents reproduced the game Makarian – Hovhanessyan (2021), but Harika’s second original move was a serious inaccuracy. 

With 24…a4? Harika created a weak pawn in her camp. After 25.Bf3 Rc5? (better was 25…h4) 26.Bb4 Rc2 27.Bc3 White emerged clearly better, threatening to capture Black’s c2 rook.

Harika’s only option was 27…Bc5, with the idea of taking the bishop on c3 and capturing the White’s a3-pawn. She instead played 27…Rd8, offering an exchange and hoping to create an escape path for her c-2 rook on White’s first rank, but Aleksandra saw through this and just played 28.Ra1! By this moment, Goryachkina had half an hour, while Harika had just over 15 minutes.

Ultimately, Black had to give up her rook and exchange it for White’s c3-bishop and headed in a hopeless opposite-coloured bishops endgame two pawns down. 

Dronavalli fought on, but Goryachkina was precise: she advanced her c-pawn as far as she could before trading it in for Black’s pawns on the kingside. As soon as White’s pawn mass on the kingside set in motion, Dronavalli threw in the towel. 

Goryachkina now has five points, just half a point behind the leader, Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Standings after Round 9

Round 10 of the third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix will take place on Tuesday, 4th April at 3 PM local time. 

Round 10 pairings:

Kateryna Lagno – Harika Dronavalli
Polina Shuvalova – Aleksandra Goryachkina
Humpy Koneru – Nino Batsiashvili
Zhu Jiner – Vaishali Rameshbabu

Nana Dzagnidze and Bibisara Assaubayeva have a rest day.