August 17, 2024

Bodnaruk Wins Play-In 4 Despite Great Fightbacks By Ismayil

IM Anastasia Bodnaruk emerged as the winner of the fourth and final Play-In tournament for the 2024 Julius Baer Women’s Speed Chess Championship in what turned out to be the most exciting and memorable of all the qualifiers. Bodnaruk defeated Azerbaijani WFM Malak Ismayil in an armageddon tiebreak.

Ismayil had earlier made a brilliant comeback and upstaged Indian WGM Priyanka Nutakki, the winner of the Swiss with 8.5/11, in the Semifinals. That was also in armageddon, which she reached despite facing near-certain defeat when 0-3 down. Bodnaruk defeated Vietnamese IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham 3.5-1.5 in the other Semifinal.

With all the participants now confirmed, the main event starts on Thursday, August 22.

Mehr …