Women's Candidates: Dzagnidze, Goryachkina Take Early Lead
Three rounds have been played at the women's candidates' tournament in Kazan, Russia. Enjoying their first rest day, Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) and Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) lead with 2.5/3.
It might have taken approximately 20 years and a FIDE metamorphosis to reinstate the women's candidates' tournament to its former glory, but as the Tatars say, "Соң булса да, уң булсын" or as it is commonly known in English: better late than never. And that is why in the sports city of Kazan, eight of the best female chess players lined up to face off in, what might arguably be the strongest and longest female tournament ever held.
With a mere 55 rating points separating the top and bottom seeds (Mariya Muzychuk's 2560 versus Goryachkina's 2505) and a marathon 14 rounds, it will certainly be a tough fight to determine the next challenger to women's world champion Ju Wenjun's crown.
With four of the eight participants hailing from Russia - (GMs Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina and Aleksandra Goryachkina), two Ukrainian sisters Anna and Mariya Muzychuk as well as Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia and Tan Zhongyi from China, there is no place for sibling or patriotic loyalty. It's a fight to the end where only the winner takes it all.
You can read more about the players in the full preview here.
Round 1: There is music for those who listen
Dzagnidze, Nana vs. Tan, Zhongyi ½-½
Gunina, Valentina vs. Lagno, Kateryna ½-½
Kosteniuk, Alexandra vs. Goryachkina, Aleksandra ½-½
Muzychuk, Mariya vs. Muzychuk, Anna ½-½
In order to avoid any form of collusion, tournament regulations stipulated that the players must be paired against their compatriots in the early rounds. Thus, the Muzychuk sisters would meet in round one and round eight, whilst the four Russian players would play each other in rounds one to three, and eight to 10.
To the surprise of probably no-one, the first round got off to a very peaceful start with four draws on the table. Whilst there were no pulses racing in the short(ish) draws between the Muzychuk sisters and Tan-Dzagnidze, the same could not be said of the two all-Russian derbies.
The first slightly unexpected result was that the newly crowned IMSA Masters rapid champion Kosteniuk barely managed to escape the pressure exerted on her by the young Goryachkina.
Branded the tournament "tactical magician" by commentator IM Elisabeth Paehtz, Gunina, fully lived up to the name by producing the following piece of sorcery in her game against Lagno.
Afterward, both Gunina and Lagno expressed some discontent with the playing venue. Not only was the room too cold but even worse it was very noisy. In fact, the noise was so loud that the organisers have taken the radical decision to move the chess action into a different room, starting from round four.
The players in the third round of the Women's Candidates in Kazan provide a collective shrug as music is heard in the playing room just under 2 hours into the games. Round 4 will be played in a new, quiet hall but, until then, there's music on Bauman St all through the evening...
— Ian Rogers (@GMIanRogers) June 2, 2019
Unfortunately, it appears that the playing conditions are unsatisfactory at the #FIDEWomenCandidates . We must ensure that during the rest of this prestigious event the participants can concentrate undisturbed. My apologies to the players #FIDE
— Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) June 2, 2019
To be honest, the band outside the Nogai Hotel today is by far the best since the Kazan Women's Candidates began and the players are no doubt secretly enjoying this string trio playing the greatest hits of Ed Sheeran, Ray Charles and Luis Fonsi. pic.twitter.com/KQlRJzZffi
— Ian Rogers (@GMIanRogers) June 2, 2019
Round 2: "To catch a Tatar" - To encounter or be forced to reckon with someone or something that proves more powerful, troublesome or formidable than one expected
Goryachkina, Aleksandra vs. Gunina, Valentina 1-0
Lagno, Kateryna vs. Kosteniuk, Alexandra ½-½
Muzychuk, Anna vs. Dzagnidze, Nana 0-1
Tan, Zhongyi vs. Muzychuk, Mariya ½-½
Failing to tame that formidable opponent was undoubtedly the take-home message from the games in rounds two. Both Lagno and Muzychuk failed to maximise their pleasant advantages against Kosteniuk and Tan respectively. However, as the saying goes when you are young and talented, everything is easy and Goryachkina made it look effortless with a beautiful endgame finesse against Gunina.
It is certainly a nice puzzle to solve!
But it was the Georgian GM Dzagnidze's remarkable display of dynamism over Anna Muzychuk that really stole the show:
Round 3: The whitewash
Dzagnidze, Nana vs. Muzychuk, Mariya 1-0
Goryachkina, Aleksandra vs. Lagno, Kateryna 1-0
Gunina, Valentina vs. Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0
Tan, Zhongyi vs. Muzychuk, Anna 1-0
Ruthless situations demand cut-throat measures and the third round, much to the crowd's enjoyment saw four decisive games. When its a white-wash with the white pieces - black is certainly not OK. Once more, Dzagnidze showed off some powerful form to win a very convincing game against top seed Mariya Muzychuk.
Things got a lot more competitive between Gunina versus Kosteniuk:
Former women's world champion Tan also scored her first win against Anna Muzychuk, after the Ukranian missed a beautiful trick.
The game between Goryachkina and Lagno demonstrated the importance of knowing basic rook versus pawn endgames, just when it looked like Lagno had saved a hard fought draw. The following happened.
2019 FIDE Women's Candidates' | Round 3 Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Goryachkina,Aleksandra | 2522 | 2814 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2.5/3 | 3 | ||||||
| 2 | Dzagnidze,Nana | 2510 | 2817 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 2.5/3 | 2.5 | ||||||
| 3 | Tan,Zhongyi | 2513 | 2657 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.0/3 | |||||||
| 4 | Gunina,Valentina | 2506 | 2540 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1.5/3 | |||||||
| 5 | Kosteniuk,Alexandra | 2546 | 2407 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1.0/3 | 1.75 | ||||||
| 6 | Muzychuk,Mariya | 2563 | 2401 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1.0/3 | 1.25 | ||||||
| 7 | Lagno,Kateryna | 2554 | 2405 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1.0/3 | 1.25 | ||||||
| 8 | Muzychuk,Anna | 2539 | 2250 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0.5/3 |
Monday is a rest day, as there is one after each set of three rounds. The playing days are May 31 – June 2, 4-6, 8-10, 12-14, and 16-17. Tie-breaks (if needed) and the closing ceremony will take place on June 18.
The Women's Candidates' has a record prize fund of 200,000 Euros with a first prize of 50,000 Euros. The winner will become Ju Wenjun’s challenger, with half a million euros at stake in the title match.
The tournament venue is the Nogai Hotel in Kazan, Russia. The rounds start 3 p.m. local time, which is 14:00 CEST, 8 a.m. Eastern, 5 a.m. Pacific. You can watch the games of the Candidates' Tournament here as part of our live portal. The official website is here.
Previous report:
