WWCC 2017: Anna Muzychuk ties the score
Women's World Chess Championship: Anna Muzychuk ties the score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score | |
| Anna Muzychuk | ½ | 1 | 1.5 | ||
| Tan Zhongyi | 1 | 1.5 |
The third game of the Women's World Chess Championship final match was played in the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran on 1st of March.
Anna Muzychuk, who was losing the final match after 2 games, managed to win the third encounter to level the score.
The players repeated their opening from the first game – Tan Zhongyi once again played the French defense but deviated from the previous encounter already on move 3. However, it did not surprise Anna Muzychuk, who was expecting “any possible move” from her opponent. Ukrainian player remembered her home preparation and felt she is more experienced in these type of positions than her opponent.
After 14. Bh7 Black’s position is falling apart. Nevertheless, Anna didn’t choose the most precise way to win the game and after 19.Bd2 (19.Qd6 or 19.Qe2 were better moves) Tan Zhongyi could have complicated the position by playing Nd5! 20. Ne6 Ne5! However, Chinese player failed to find this line and after 19...Rb8 20. Qd6 the outcome of the game was not questionable.
The fourth game is played on March, 2 at 3 pm local time. Tan Zhongyi has White.
The final match consists of four games. If the score after four games is tied, the winner is determined on tie-break with quicker time controls.
Women's World Chess Championship: Tan Zhongyi wins the second game of the final
The second game of the Women's World Chess Championship final match was played in the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran on 28th of February. It was also 27th birthday of one of the participants of the match - Anna Muzychuk from Ukraine. Unlike Magnus Carlsen, who won the title of the World Champion on his birthday 3 months ago, Anna lost for the first time in the World Championship and in the final match. The match score is now 1.5-0.5 in Tan’s favor.
After 10 moves of play queens have already left the board and in the following ending Black had to find a precise way to equalize. According to Tan Zhongyi, after dubious 12...Ng4 she thought White’s position was better. Chinese player was increasing her positional advantage using the activity of her pieces and the bad position of the Black’s knight, which had to make a long way to get back into the game. On 24th move Anna decided to sacrifice a pawn in order to activate her pieces but later on failed to put up the most tenacious resistance when she got a chance.
Instead of last move 28.h4, White could have played 28.Ke4 protecting a pawn on e5 and after Rf8 29.Nd6 Rf4 30.Ke3.
But after h4 Anna didn't take a pawn (instead of 28...Rf8) 28...Nxh4 29.Rh1 Ng2+ 30.Kf2 Ke7 31.Nd6 Nf4 32.Rxh7 Nd3+ 33.Kg3 Nxe5 34.Ne4 with chances to survive.
The third game is played on March 1 at 3 pm local time. Anna Muzychuk has White.
The final match consists of four games. If the score after four games is tied, the winner is determined on tie-break with quicker time controls.
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Women's World Chess Championship: Final Match Game 1
The final match of the Women's World Chess Championship started in the Espinas Palace Hotel (Tehran) on February 27.
Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, GM, 2558) and Tan Zhongyi (China, WGM, 2502) are competing for the chess crown in a 4-game match with classical time control (90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added after each move).
If the match ends in a tie, the winner will be determined on tie-break on April 6.
Tan Zhongyi had big problems to equalize with Black in the semifinal match against Harika Dronavalli and perhaps it can explain her will to play something different compare to her previous games.
In the French Defence Rubinstein Variation Chinese player chose to play quite rare line starting with 5...Bd7. Anna Muzychuk didn’t go for the most principal lines and preferred solid 7.0-0 and 8.Ned2.
After many exchanges Anna transferred the game into the ending Queen and Knight vs Queen and Bishop. She tried to use Black’s weaknesses in the pawn structure on the King’s side but it turned out White has no enough resources to play for something more than a draw.
Round 5 tie-breaks: Tan Zhongyi is in the final
The tie-break of the Women's World Chess Championship Semifinal was played in the Espinas Palace Hotel on 25th of February.
The match Harika Dronavalli – Tan Zhongyi continued with quicker time controls following 1-1 score after the first two classical games.
After Harika’s quick victory in the first rapid game, it was hard to imagine that Zhongyi will manage to equalize the score but that’s what actually happened.
Today’s tiebreak has proved once again that it’s possible to lose any position when your opponent is in a must-win situation. Playing with White Tan Zhongyi slowly won the ending which seemed completely drawish.
After equalizing the score in rapid, Chinese player also won the first game with 10min+10 sec time control.
After 54...Re7 Black should hold the position, as after 55.Nd3 he has Ng6. Harika Dronavalli chose Qf5 and had to resign after 55.Nd3.
it was Harika’s turn to defeat her opponent in a must-win situation and “no-chance-to-win” ending. After more than 50 moves of play b-pawn was ready to promote and Black had to resign. The score became level once again.
Two blitz games finished in a draw, even though Harika had good chances to score in both of them. The match was not decided and the players reached Armageddon game.
Tan Zhongyi chose to play with Black pieces, ignoring the fact that White won 6 out of 8 games in this match. This game became the last accord in one of the most dramatic matches of the Championship. Harika had winning position but didn’t find a precise way to defeat her opponent. In the end she lost this game on time. In a post game interview Tan Zhongyi said: “I feel very sorry for my opponent. I think she played good and had really good chances in the blitz games.”
For the third time Harika Dronavalli could not go through the semifinal. Same as in Khanty-Mansiysk 2012 and Sochi 2015, she was very close to get into the final stage of the championship.
After the end of the match both players were exhausted (Photo:Anastasiya Karlovych).
Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk will compete for the chess crown in a 4-game final match with classical time control (90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added after each move). The first game will be played on 27th of February.
If the match ends in a tie, the winner will be determined on tie-break on March 3.
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Women's World Chess Championship: Round 5 Game 2
In the return game of the semi-final clash, Alexandra Kosteniuk lost against Anna Muzychuk and was eliminated from the Women’s World Championship. Harika Dronavalli made a comeback by winning an epic battle against Tan Zhongyi.
It seems Alexandra Kosteniuk didn’t manage to recover after yesterday’s loss. In a must-win situation she decided not to exchange queens after 7...dc and ended up in a worse position after 8.e5 Ng8. Anna Muzychuk increased her advantage and won the game to become the first finalist of the World Championship.
In what turned to be the longest game of the tournament, Harika Dronavalli had many chances to finish the game more than 100 moves earlier.
She missed the opportunity to give a force mate in 5 after 57.Qe7! Kc8 58.Bd3!
It’s hard to explain why Harika decided to change the queens a few moves later but instead of completely winning position she transferred the game into an ending with drawish chances for Black. Nevertheless, with a precise play Indian player managed to get a position with Knight and Bishop vs King. It was clear that Harika had problems to remember the winning plan after 6 hours of play and her opponent decided to check her technique. After 45 moves White finally managed to create a mating net.
The matches is tied, and the outcome will be determined on tie-breaks on 25th of February.
Two decisive games in the first day of Semifinal
The Semifinal matches of the Women's World Chess Championship started in the Espinas Palace Hotel (Tehran) on February 23.
Four players continue competing for the chess crown: Tan Zhongyi (China) faces Harika Dronavalli (India), and Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) meets Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine). These matches consist of two games with the following time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 30 bonus seconds after each move. If the match is tied 1-1, it is continued on the tie-break with quicker time controls.
The game Tan Zhongyi-Harika Dronavalli was level until move 21, when Harika decided to change the pawn structure, after which Tan Zhongyi got a pleasant King side initiative. It seems Black had enough resources to defend the position but probably Indian player underestimated the danger. White managed to bring all his pieces to organize killing attack on the opponent's King.
Anna Muzychuk tried to surprise Alexandra Kosteniuk by choosing French Defence, the rare guest in her games, but it didn’t work out as former world champion was perfectly ready. Inaccurate 10... Qc7 let White to gain a long-term initiative out of the opening and after 19.Na6 Alexandra Kosteniuk got a position with a pawn up. After the first time trouble it turned out that White’s win is debatable.
It was not possible to find a non-human line 43.Kg1!! fe 44.Qe5!! with victory and after "normal" 43.Nd4 the character of the game has changed as Black started to create threats against White’s King.
Nevertheless, it looked like Alexandra is not risking to lose this game at any moment but the tables were turned after 56.Ne5? Anna immediately responded with 56...Ng5 and White cannot defend against two threats Re5 with Nf3 and Nh3. A few moves later former World Champion had to resign. In a post-game interview Anna Muzychuk called her victory “a miracle”.
The second game of semifinal will be played at 3 p.m. local time on 24th of February. Alexandra Kosteniuk and Harika Dronavalli will obviously try to equalize the score.
Women's World Chess Championship: Round 4 Tie-breaks
The tie-break of the Women's World Chess Championship was played in Espinas Palace Hotelon February 22. Only two players Harika Dronavalli and Nana Dzagnidze returned to the venue to determine the last semifinalist in rapid and blitz games.
In the first rapid game Harika Dronavalli sacrificed a pawn but got enough compensation by keeping a pair of bishops and getting some space advantage. Nana Dzagnidze transfered the game into the rook ending, which computer estimates as an equalone. “Most probably Nana could have made a draw but I think it was easier for me to play this ending”, said Harika at the post-game interview.
For the second time during this match Nana was in a must-win situation but this time Harika didn’t give any chance for her opponent. The final position in the seocnd game was winning for Indian player but she prefered to force a draw, which garanteed her a place in the semifinal.
Four players continue competing for the chess crown: Tan Zhongyi (China) faces Harika Dronavalli (India), and Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) meets Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine). These matches consist of two games with the following time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 30 bonus seconds after each move. If the match is tied 1-1, it is continued on the tie-break with quicker time controls.
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Women's World Chess Championship: Round 4 Game 2
The second games of the Women's World Chess Championship Quarterfinals were played on February 21. Ju Wenjun, Antoneta Stefanova and Ni Shiqun leave the championship.
In the first game Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), playing White, defeated Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), Harika Dronavalli (India) won as Black against Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), and two other games were drawn – Ni-Kosteniuk, Tan Zhongyi-Ju Wenjun.
Today's games were extremely tense. The underdog of the match Tan Zhongyi, who was close to win previous game, defeated with Black pieces her teamate and the highest rated player of the tournament Ju Wenjun.
Ju Wenjun leaves Tehran but, as the winner of the Women’s Grand Prix Series, she will have another chance to fight for the title in the Women’s World Championship Match against a new Women’s World Champion.
Nana Dzagnidze won on demand against Harika Dronavalli to extend the match to the tie-breaks. In her last interview Harika said she would like to play as many games as possible and so far she keeps on playing without free days as she hasn’t missed any tie-break.
Unlike Harika, Anna Muzychuk remains the only player who has never played any tie-breaks in this championship. Ukrainian player held Antoaneta Stefanova for a draw and won the match.
Alexandra Kosteniuk transferred the game into a better ending and slowly outplayed her opponent Ni Shiqun, a Chinese player, whose result became the most surprising one in this championship.
The tie-break between Nana Dzagnidze and Harika Dronavalli will take place in the Espinas Palace on 22nd of February.
Women's World Chess Championship: Round 4 Game 1
The Quarterfinals of the Women's World Championship started in the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran on February 20.
Eight players continue their quest for the chess crown – two former World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), three Chinese players Ju Wenjun, Tan Zhongyi and Ni Shiqun, Harika Dronavalli (India), Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia).
They are to play short two-game matches with the classical time control. If the match is tied 1-1, it is continued on the tie-break with quicker time controls.
There were two decisive games at the first day of round 4. Anna Muzychuk outplayed Antoaneta Stefanova and Harika Dronavalli defeated Nana Dzagnidze.
Rating favorites of the matches Alexandra Kosteniuk and Ju Wenjun held their opponents for a draw and will obviously try to press with White pieces tomorrow.
In a Chinese derby playing white Tan Zhongyi transferred the game into the ending which turned to be better for white. There were few moments in the game were Tan Zhongyi was about to win but Ju Wenjun was finding good defensive resources.
Anna Muzychuk tried to surprised Antoaneta Stefanova in a Breyer System in Ruy Lopez with a rare move 14.Bg5 but failed to get something substantial.
The position after 32.Rb7 is rich with tactics and in the time trouble Antoaneta chose the most ambitious line but didn’t play precisely. After 32...Nh3 33.Kf1 the only way to continue the fight was play Nf2!
After 33...Nf4 and 34.d6 Black’s position collapsed in a few moves.
In the game Dronavalli-Dzagnidze players tried to outsmart each other in the opening with the tricky move order but nevertheless it was more or less flawless game until move 39.
In a time trouble playing Black Nana most probably missed that after 39...Bb2 40.Bd3 she has Rc1! with a drawish ending. After 39...gf Black is losing.
The second game of quarterfinals will be played at 3 p.m. local time on 21st of February. Both Antoaneta Stefanova and Nana Dzagnidze will have white pieces and obviously will try to equalize the score tomorrow.
Results of Round 4 Game 1
Women's World Chess Championship: Round 3 Tie-breaks
The third round tie-breaks started with 4 matches on February 19th at 15:00 local time.
None of the matches were decided in rapid games at the 25 min + 10 sec time control.
All games finished in a draw in Kosteniuk-Cramling and Dronavalli-Guramishvili matches. Sopiko had good chances in the rook ending in the second rapid game but didn’t find a precise way to convert her advantage.
Ju Wenjun and Rout Padmini, despite winning their first rapid games, lost the second ones and let their opponents Olga Girya and Tan Zhongyi to level the score.
Olga Giriya blundered a piece in one move in the first game but after such a hard blow she managed to mobilize all her strength and outplayed Ju Wenjun in a must-win situation.
The fate of all matches was decided in 10 min+10 sec time control.
In a first game Olga Girya didn’t find a precise way to convert her advantage in a rook ending. After 48.e4! Black would lose a pawn on h4 and had no time to promote his e pawn. The ending in the second game didn’t look promising for White but Ju Wenjun found a nice sourse (34.a4) to continue the game and eventually outplayed her opponent.
The first game Dronavalli-Guramishvili with 10+10 time control was full of mistakes from both sides and the evaluation of the position was changing a few times. Sopiko was the last one who made a mistake in this game and in the second one Harika didn’t let her opponent to level the score in the match.
After a shaky start rating favorite of the match Tan Zhongyi found her play in the second half of the match. She defeated her opponent in the first game and found a nice tactical source 14...Ne4, which killed hopes of Indian player to equalize the score.
Pia Cramling got an advantage in the first game with 10+10 time control but made a crucial mistake on 47 move and had to resign few moves later. Swedish Grandmaster tried hard to equalize the score but former world champion didn’t give a her a chance in the second game of the match.
The fourth round of the FIDE Women’s World Championship starts at 3 p.m. local time on 20th of February. Only 8 participants will continue playing and only four of them will proceed to semifinals.
Women's World Chess Championship: Round 3 Game 2
4 matches were decided on the second day of the third round and other 4 matches will be finalized after tie-breaks tomorrow. Nana Dzagnidze and Antoaneta Stefanova, who won the first games of the third round, had no problems to make draws in the second games and went through the next stage.
Fans cannot really blame Anna Muzychuk for using too much time while converting her advantage in the game against Pham Le Thao Nguyen.
It seems Ukrainian player was trying to play without any risk as even a draw would guarantee her a victory in the match. Nevertheless, after 75 moves of play Anna finshed the match with 2:0 score.
19-year-old Chinese player Ni Shiqun defeated Russian Natalia Pogonina, the former runner-up of the previous Women's World Chess championship 2015, and guaranteed her attendance in the fourth round.
In a dramatic game full of mistakes from both sides Natalia Pogonina missed few real chances to end the game in a draw.
The second games In the matches Girya-Ju, Kosteniuk-Cramling, Dronavalli-Guramishvili, Padmini-Tan were relatively quiet and none of the players had real chances to fight for more than a draw.
Thus, 8 players will play on tie-breaks at 3 pm local time on 19th February.
According to regulations after a new drawing of colors, two tie-break games with the time control 25min + 10sec will be played.
If the scores are still level, then, after a new drawing of colors, a match of two games with the time control 10min + 10sec will be played.
In case of a level score, another match of two games will be played, with a blitz time control of 5min + 3sec.
If still there is no winner, one sudden-death game will be played. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the opponent with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3 seconds for each move from move 61. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.
Women's World Chess Championship: Round 3 Game 1
Only 16 out of 64 participants are remaining in contention for the title of the Women’s World Champion. In the first game of the third round Nana Dzagnidze, Anna Muzychuk and Antoante Stefanova defeated their opponents, while five other games finished in a draw.
In a Slav Exchange Variation Shen Yang didn`t find the right way to neutralize pressure of Nana Dzagnidze and found herself in an unpleasant position. Her attempt to sacrifice a pawn in order to get conter play was refuted by Nana’s nice tactical blow 25...Ng7!
In a complicated position, which appeared after original opening move order, Nino Khurtsidze was in trouble and could have lost her game after force variaton starting with 27. Nf6 Kf6 28. h4.
Antoaneta Stefanova transferred the game into the ending Knight & Bishop vs Rook.
It was not clear how Antoaneta will break through but by playing 51...Re6 Nino Khurtsidze missed nice idea 52.Bd4! threatening Nh6 mate. As a result Georgian player had to give up a pawn on e6 and later on former World Champion confidently mated Black’s king with knight and bishop.
After Anna Muzychuk grabbed a pawn on d4 on move 23, she didn’t leave any chance to her opponent Pham Le Thao Nguyen to survive. After victory with Black pieces it seems Anna has the best chances to proceed to the next round.
Game Kosteniuk-Cramling left the spectators in a slight disappointment because a draw was agreed in a slightly better position for Black. Perhaps Pia decided not to take any additional risk and will try to press with White pieces tomorrow.
The second game of the third round of the FIDE Women’s World Championship starts at 3 p.m. local time on 18th of February.