Aleksandra Goryachkina leads the FIDE Women Grand Prix

The second leg of the WGP Series in Shymkent, after the FIDE Tbilisi Women Grand Prix 2024 is now underway. WGP Series consists of six Women’s Grand Prix tournaments held over two years 2024-2025. The tournament structure is 10 rounds-Robin. A total of twenty players compete in the WGP series, as each Women Grand Prix event will have ten participants. The competitors in the current leg include Zhongyi Tan, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno, Deshmukh Divya, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Elisabeth Paehtz, Stavroula Tsolakidou, Nurgyul Salimova and Batkhuyag Munguntuul.

The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Shymkent reached its halfway mark in dramatic fashion, with four of five games ending decisively in Round 5. Aleksandra Goryachkina emerged as the sole leader after scoring a brilliant victory over Tan Zhongyi, her third consecutive win. In a day full of surprises, Bibisara Assaubayeva outplayed Humpy Koneru, Divya Deshmukh netted her first full point against Munguntuul Batkhuyag, and Stavroula Tsolakidou ground out a hard-fought win over Elisabeth Paehtz. Meanwhile, Nurgyul Salimova and Kateryna Lagno drew their game.

Round 1: Nurgyul Salimova – Bibisara Assaubayeva / Batkhuyag Munguntuul – Stavroula Tsolakidou / Zhongyi Tan – Elisabeth Paehtz / Deshmukh Divya – Humpy Koneru / Kateryna Lagno – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 2: Aleksandra Goryachkina – Bibisara Assaubayeva / Stavroula Tsolakidou – Nurgyul Salimova / Elisabeth Paehtz – Batkhuyag Munguntuul / Humpy Koneru – Zhongyi Tan / Kateryna Lagno – Deshmukh Divya

Round 3: Deshmukh Divya – Aleksandra Goryachkina / Batkhuyag Munguntuul – Humpy Koneru / Nurgyul Salimova – Elisabeth Paehtz / Bibisara Assaubayeva – Stavroula Tsolakidou / Zhongyi Tan – Kateryna Lagno

Round 4: Aleksandra Goryachkina – Stavroula Tsolakidou / Elisabeth Paehtz – Bibisara Assaubayeva / Humpy Koneru – Nurgyul Salimova / Kateryna Lagno – Batkhuyag Munguntuul / Deshmukh Divya – Zhongyi Tan

Round 5: Stavroula Tsolakidou – Elisabeth Paehtz / Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru / Nurgyul Salimova – Kateryna Lagno / Batkhuyag Munguntuul – Deshmukh Divya / Zhongyi Tan – Aleksandra Goryachkina

Round 4 report

Another roller coaster of a day took place at the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix as, once again, the majority of games ended decisively, with Humpy Koneru and Aleksandra Goryachkina joining Tan Zhongyi as leaders of the event.

Both Koneru and Goryachkina, after slow starts, are now making their presence felt with back-to-back wins, defeating Nurgyul Salimova and Stavroula Tsolakidou, respectively.

Munguntuul Batkhuyag outplayed Kateryna Lagno in a surprising upset, while Elisabeth Paehtz and Bibisara Assaubayeva concluded their game with a quiet draw. Tan Zhongyi faced Divya Deshmukh in an intense battle, where Divya missed a crucial moment to take down the tournament leader.

The leaderboard has now seen another shift, with new front-runners and promising matchups ahead. Tomorrow’s round will be crucial as Tan Zhongyi takes on Goryachkina, possibly reshuffling the standings once again.

 Let’s take a look at what happened in today’s games:

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Stavroula Tsolakidou 1-0

Goryachkina has demonstrated deep preparation for the tournament, often taking her opponents into less popular sidelines. In today’s game, she played an improved version of a line we recently saw at the FIDE Olympiad in the game Cheparinov – Caruana, and by move 16, Aleksandra had a sizeable advantage. However, a few moves later, she offered a queen trade at the wrong time instead of securing a strong outpost for her knight.

But she quickly corrected this error by repositioning the same knight to a3, forcing Black to make a few uncomfortable exchanges. With her back against the wall, Tsolakidou had to parry Goryachkina’s threats instead of creating her own. Eventually, Black crumbled, spending almost 20 minutes on a bad move in what was already a tough position. In the end, the black king found itself in the middle of the board, surrounded by danger, and Goryachkina sealed the game with a nice tactical finish:

44.Bxd5! 1-0 (44…Rxd4 45.cxd4+ followed by 46.Bxc6)

Elisabeth Paehtz – Bibisara Assaubayeva ½-½  

This quiet game featured a Sicilian Alapin, transitioning into an endgame where Paehtz’s isolated queen’s pawn became a slight liability. However, she held her ground with accurate defense, preventing Assaubayeva from gaining a substantial advantage. Black was only slightly better due to the more active rook, but White remained solid, playing accurately and not allowing her opponent to make inroads.

The players eventually repeated moves, and the game concluded in a draw.

Humpy Koneru – Nurgyul Salimova 1-0

In the day’s longest game, Koneru and Salimova fought in a battle spanning almost five hours. Relatively early, Humpy gained an advantage, but quickly let it slip, resulting in an imbalanced yet equal position. White had a queen, two rooks, and four pawns, versus Black’s queen, rook, two bishops, and two pawns. Typically, the bishop pair can be extremely dangerous in open positions, but unfortunately, but it was not the case as White had ample piece activity. Even though Salimova really pushed for an attack, it was to no avail, as Whit’s king was always safe and secure.

White had two passed pawns that ran down the queenside, which at some point were overpushed, giving Black a chance to get back in the game, but with very little time on the clock, the best continuation (which involved rerouting pieces), was not an easy one to find. Salimova kept trying until the very end, but her attack was never enough, and eventually Humpy prevailed. This is Humpy’s second victory in a row. After drawing a completely winning position vs. Tan Zhongyi in the second round, she came back strong and now has some momentum.

Lagno, Kateryna – Munguntuul, Batkhuyag

Munguntuul and her Caro-Kann struck once again! White sidestepped theory early on, and neither player demonstrated accuracy in navigating the unchartered waters in the opening.

In hopes of preparing some kind of attack on the kingside, Lagno swung her queen over but failed to gain ground, retreating instead, inadvertently giving Munguntuul time to build up an attack of her own. By move 22, Black was already much better, and suddenly Lagno found herself on the receiving end of a kingside attack, with Black’s two rooks and queen looming down on her king. Eventually, Lagno was forced to give up material, but her rook and knight were no match for Munguntuul’s dangerous queen. Kateryna resigned on move 41 as her position collapsed.

Divya, Deshmukh – Tan, Zhongyi

Tan opted for a less popular variation of the King’s Indian Defense, and by move 12, Divya sacrificed a pawn for piece activity, a move tested in two games in 2016. After a few exchanges, including of the queens, Divya had two powerful bishops which Tan neutralized by first returning the pawn, followed by trading dark-squared bishops.

The position became very imbalanced, with White having bad double-isolated pawns on the kingside, and a passed pawn on the queenside, along with two rooks and a bishop, against Black’s secure three kingside pawns, two rooks, and knights. Although the computer evaluated this as marginally better for Black, it was challenging for both sides. On move 34, Tan erred massively weakening her seventh rank, and Divya had her chance to take control by shielding her passed pawn from one of Black’s rooks, essentially locking it out of the defense. Playing quickly under time pressure, she missed this opportunity and blitzed out the incorrect move in seconds. Tan did not give her young opponent any more winning chances, and soon after reaching time control, they agreed on a draw.

Moment of the Day

Although there were a few decisive outcomes in Round 4, the moment of the day is the position in which the young Divya Deshmukh had the opportunity to take down tournament leader Tan Zhongyi.

Divya Deshmukh – Tan Zhongyi

In the game, White played 35. Rb5? instead of the much stronger 35.Bb5! blocking the black rook out, preparing the crushing Ra7. If Black tries something like 35…Rf7, then the other rook can join the party on the 7th rank via 36. Rc6. White would still have to be accurate, which might have been difficult under the immense time pressure Divya was in, but it was the winning continuation.

Standings after Round 4

Round 5 pairings and dates

The fifth round of the second leg in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Sunday, November 3rd, 15:00 local time in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Round 5

Tan, Zhongyi – Goryachkina, Aleksandra
Munguntuul, Batkhuyag – Divya, Deshmukh
Salimova, Nurgyul – Lagno, Kateryna
Assaubayeva, Bibisara – Koneru, Humpy
Tsolakidou, Stavroula – Paehtz, Elisabeth

Round 5 report

Usually, the round before a rest day is one of the quieter ones, where players tend to finish quickly as they reach the first tournament milestone. But this is far from what happened today, as players gave their all, setting off sparks across the boards. We saw attacking chess, missteps that were capitalized on, and overall a sense of players fighting to win and not settle for draws.

Tan Zhongyi – Aleksandra Goryachkina 0-1

The most anticipated matchup of the round was between former World Champion Tan Zhongyi and former World Champion challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, and it was undoubtedly the most exciting game to watch. What started off as a regular Italian, quickly became extremely dynamic as Goryachkina intentionally allowed a weak pawn structure, with double-isolated pawns on the e-file. But after castling queenside, this risky game plan gave her a lot of space and opportunity to launch a kingside attack, which Tan had castled right into.

As a result, Goryachkina obtained a strong early advantage and control of the game as she mobilized all of her pieces for the kingside assault. Eventually, Tan traded her two knights for a rook, hoping to alleviate pressure, but it was too late – Black’s attack was already deadly and Goryachkina played with precision to finish it off.

What makes Goryachkina so scary to play against is that she takes every player out of their comfort zones, making them enter positions where logical continuations (as Tan played) are not the best, and missteps are easy.

Munguntuul Batkhuyag – Divya Deshmukh 0-1

Determined to avoid the time trouble that cost her spoiling a winning position against Tan in Round 4, Divya came out with impressive speed, establishing a 50-minute lead on the clock by move 16.

And this was a good approach – stemming from the Ruy Lopez, Black achieved a good position out of the opening, holding an advantage that she would keep throughout. The young Indian star said in an interview that she felt that she got lucky as her opponent blundered at a certain point. This happened on move 38 as White made consecutive bad trades when she just had to keep the position as is. But luck was not the only ingredient in Divya’s success, as her tactical eye helped her pounce at the correct moment, spotting a combination that had her win a couple of pawns, and then, the game.

Nurgyul Salimova – Kateryna Lagno 1/2-1/2

The game that started with the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Tartakower Defense, saw early trades and an asymmetrical pawn structure with Black holding a 3-2 queenside majority. Lagno engineered some activity by pushing her pawns, eventually obtaining a passed pawn, and was first to obtain a slight advantage, which she increased after Salimova erred, grabbing a “poisoned” a7-pawn.

It looked like Black would capitalize on this as Kateryna played all the best moves until reaching a critical position where she did not find the correct plan. Nurgyul did not miss her chance and reached a draw with an accurate play.

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru 1-0

Uncharacteristic of her usual aggressive style, Bibisara opted for the English today, where the game entered the Four Knights, Nimzowitsch Variation. She showed her range by first playing a good positional game – creating a queenside weakness in the form of an isolated pawn, which she kept pressure on.

Black defended well, and the position was equal until Humpy made the grave mistake of unnecessarily opening the kingside. Bibisara immediately punished this decision, playing with surgical accuracy and a natural flair for attack, and ten moves later, Humpy threw in the towel.

Stavroula Tsolakidou – Elisabeth Paehtz 1-0

The longest game of the day spanned five hours, which could have ended earlier as Tsolakidou actually obtained an advantage by move 16 already. But even though White was better, there was no clear-cut way forward, and soon it became equal as Black’s pieces finally came to life and joined the game. Pretty soon, Tsolakidou would regain the advantage and what would ensue was a long grind to convert it. Elisabeth attempted to create some counterplay, but with her queen being the only active piece, it was not enough. White eventually liquidated into a winning endgame and sealed the deal by move 63. After a tough loss to Goryachkina yesterday, Stavroula bounced back admirably and goes into the rest day with her second victory of the tournament.  

As the players head into the rest day, Goryachkina stands alone at the top, riding a three-game winning streak. The tournament remains wide open, however, with many opportunities for others to challenge her position. The rest day will offer players a chance to recharge and step away from the intensity of hotel-based tournament life. With fresh energy, they’ll return to the board on November 5th for Round 6, where new pairings promise continued excitement and shifting dynamics on the leaderboard.

Moment of the Day

Goryachkina’s game was an excellent one that should be seen. There was no specific moment, as she played brilliantly throughout. You can view the full game here.

In terms of moments, a standout one was Bibisara’s swift response to Humpy’s blunder:

Bibisara Assaubayeva – Humpy Koneru

Humpy juist played 23…f5? Unnecessarily opening up the kingside. The game continued: 24.exf5 Bxe5 and suddenly 25.Nd5! Is a huge problem for Black.

Now there are all kinds of threats including Ne7 and d4.

25…Bg6 26.Rb5 Qa3 27.Ne7 Kh8 28.Nxg6 hxg6. Black’s Kingside has crumbled. 29.d4 exd4 30.Qxd4 Ne5 31.c5!

Although not accurate according to the computer, this move was great from a practical standpoint as Black has no good responses. The d-pawn is about to fall, and importantly, the a2-g8 diagonal has opened for the bishop. The game ended shortly: 31…Rc8 32.cxd6 Rc5 33.Qh4 Kg8 34.Bb3 1-0

Standings after Round 5 

Round six pairings and dates

The sixth round of the second leg in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Tuesday November 5th, 15:00 local time in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Round 6

Goryachkina, Aleksandra – Paehtz, Elisabeth
Koneru, Humpy – Tsolakidou, Stavroula
Lagno, Kateryna – Assaubayeva, Bibisara
Divya, Deshmukh – Salimova, Nurgyul
Tan, Zhongyi – Munguntuul, Batkhuyag

Report by FIDE.com and Charlize van Zyl