Humpy, Goryachkina Win Again To Catch Tan Zhongyi In Lead
GMs Koneru Humpy and Aleksandra Goryachkina both won their second games in a row (vs. IMs Nurgyul Salimova and Stavroula Tsolakidou respectively) to catch GM Tan Zhongyi in the 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix lead in round four. IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul's rollercoaster continued as she hit back again to defeat GM Kateryna Lagno, while GM Elisabeth Paehtz revealed she plans to retire after the current Grand Prix series.
Round five will start on Sunday, November 3, at 5 a.m. ET / 11:00 CET / 3:30 p.m. IST.
Round 4 Results
Those results mean that we now have a three-way tie for the lead.
Standings After Round 4
The quietest game of the day was Paehtz's draw with IM Bibisara Assaubayeva, but the 39-year-old German women's number-one gave a remarkable nine-minute interview afterward, which she opened by revealing, "I’m in an age where I don’t care so much anymore because basically my career is almost over."
Paehtz explained she was playing the Grand Prix only because of unexpectedly being given a wildcard, which may have prolonged her chess career by a year: "Since already two years I basically wanted to stop and it never happened, but next year I want to go for a certain surgery and I hope this is going to work out, and then if it works out, then I guess I won’t have much time."
She talked about going into coaching or perhaps using her chess decision-making experience in business, while also giving a surprising answer when asked about her continuing passion for chess: "Honestly speaking, I never loved the game—I loved the world around the game."
Honestly speaking, I never loved the game—I loved the world around the game.
—Elisabeth Paehtz on chess
The other draw is intriguing as it felt all the winning chances were on the side of Tan, given IM Divya Deshmukh's serious time trouble, but in fact 34...f6?!, opening the seventh rank, gave Divya a real chance to play for a win. She needed to go for 35.Bb5!, but instead quickly played 35.Rb5, and the opportunity disappeared.
That draw for leader Tan meant that she could be caught, and two players seized their chances. Goryachkina did what no one had managed in 12 games in the 2024-2025 Women's Grand Prix—she beat Tsolakidou. In fact, she made it look very easy, simplifying the position to her advantage and converting smoothly, with 44.Bxd5!, an elegant final move—Black can't avoid ending up a piece down.
Things might have been different, however, if Tsolakidou had chosen another option on move 26 and hadn't allowed Goryachkina to go on to win a pawn by force with 28.Bxc4!.
Humpy also won a second game in a row, after outlasting Salimova in an epic clash, to catch Tan. Salimova's early 16...g5?! is questionable, but she hit back brilliantly in the middle of the game when Humpy grabbed an at least semi-poisoned pawn. What doomed the young Bulgarian was her refusal to capture either of her Indian opponent's queenside pawns when given the chance, and Humpy went on to push those pawns to victory.
Munguntuul's victory, the day's other win, didn't impact the standings too significantly except for leaving one of the pre-tournament favorites, GM Kateryna Lagno, languishing in last place. Munguntuul's tournament so far has been quite a ride!
Lagno seemed to be doing well against Munguntuul's Caro-Kann, but 16.h4?! would prove only a weakness. More mistakes followed until Lagno gave up her queen in a desperate attempt to prolong the struggle. Munguntuul made no mistake.
The big matchup in round five, the last before the rest day, will be a clash of the leaders, Tan and Goryachkina.
Round 5 Pairings
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on FIDE's YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Irine Sukandar and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko.
The 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the second of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs October 30-November 8 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Players have 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20 players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.
Previous Coverage:
- Round 3: Tan Zhongyi Takes Sole Lead; Humpy, Goryachkina Also Grab Wins
- Round 2: 17-Move Disaster For Paehtz As Tan Survives Scare Vs. Humpy
- Round 1: Tan, Assaubayeva, Tsolakidou Win As 2nd Women's Grand Prix Begins
- Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
- FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
