FIDE WGP Tbilisi Round 2: A day of unexpected draws

The second day of the Women’s Grand Prix Tbilisi concluded with all games ending in draws. However, in at least two of the games, one side was clearly better and on the brink of victory. After two rounds, Assaubayeva and Tsolakidou remain at the top, each with 1.5 points

Vaishali Rameshbabu faced a tough challenge, playing as Black against former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. After starting the tournament with a loss, Vaishali was under significant pressure on day two. Despite achieving a clearly better position as Black, she opted for a threefold repetition, giving away half a point.

The biggest surprises of the day came from the two Georgian players in the tournament, both of whom dropped their winning chances.

First, Nana Dzagnidze, playing Black, chose the French Defense and outplayed Mariya Muzychuk in the early stages of the game. Dzagnidze was completely winning towards the end but, in time trouble, opted for simplifications that allowed her opponent to equalize. Upon leaving the playing venue, Dzagnidze was clearly unhappy, shaking her head and remarking, “Unbelievable.”

The final game of the day to finish was between Lela Javakhishvili and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Javakhishvili came out of the opening with a better position. After a few mistakes by Assaubayeva, the Georgian player was dominating both on the board and on the clock. However, Assaubayeva maintained her calm resistance, eventually making the first time control and entering a rook endgame where Javakhishvili missed several chances, allowing a draw. It was a lucky save for the Kazakh player, who, with this draw, remained in the shared first place.

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh managed to stabilize after her round one loss, drawing as White with Stavroula Tsolakidou in the Nimzo-Indian. Alina Kashlinskaya and Anna Muzychuk also split the point in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, with both playing precisely and not allowing any chances.

Standings after Round 2

Here is a closer look at the games from the second day of the Women’s Grand Prix:

Alexandra Kosteniuk – Vaishali Rameshbabu

After blundering in the first game against Stavroula Tsolakidou, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu needed to make a comeback. However, it wasn’t going to be easy: she was playing as Black against none other than former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Kosteniuk opened with 1.e4, to which Vaishali responded with 1…e6, entering the Classical line of the French Defense. Vaishali made a push on the queenside and started to grow her initiative.

Alexandra has just made a serious error with 29. g4 (instead of reserved 29. Bf2), which failed to a nice combination: 29…Nxe5! White now has to follow: 30.dxe5 Qxg4+ 31.Kf1? (31.Qg2 was slightly better, according to chess engines).

And now, Vaishali repeated the moves: 31..Qh3+ 32.Kg1 Qg4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Kf1 Qg4+ Kosteniuk now called the arbiter, who confirmed the repetition.

Vaishali should have continued with bringing her knight into the attack with Nh4 on moves 32, 33 and 34, followed by Kg8 with a crushing attack, but she didn’t. After the draw was agreed, the Indian player quickly exited the playing hall.

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Stavroula Tsolakidou

On the second board, Sara Khadem was White against Stavroula Tsolakidou. In the Nimzo-Indian, White was looking to make a push in the center, but Tsolakidou countered. It seemed that Black got out of the opening slightly better, but – in Tsolakidou’s own words, she “wasn’t sure how to proceed”.

After exchanging heavy pieces on the kingside, the two entered an endgame with a rook and bishop each and agreed to a draw.

With this draw, Tsolakidou is on 1.5/2, while Khadem got her first half a point.

Lela Javakhishvili – Bibisara Assaubayeva

The last game of the day to finish was between Lela Javakhishvili and Bibisara Assaubayeva. The two played for four and a half hours.

In the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the position was even until move 19 when Black (Assaubayeva) made a mistake.

Here, Assaubayeva had several options to maintain the balance, but decided to start rerouting her knight from a6. 19…Nc7?, undermining the threats to her king.

20.Rfe1 Nd5 Black got her knight in the center, but at what cost? She was under immense pressure, and the king’s castle was in danger.

21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5 cxd5 23.Qd3 (23.Rac1 might be even stronger), and White is clearly better. Black’s pieces are underdeveloped and the king’s fortress is exposed.

As Assaubayeva later said in the post-game interview: “I knew I was weaker, and I tried not to make any more mistakes and see if she can beat me”.

Javakhishvili also was better on the clock. Despite this, she started to struggle and could not work out the best way to convert her advantage. After exchanging several heavy pieces, White emerged with an extra pawn on the kingside but in the rook endgame that followed Assaubayeva showed more confidence in her play, bringing the game to a draw.

Mariya Muzychuk – Nana Dzagnidze

After letting a better position slip in round one, Nana Dzagnidze wanted to set things right in round two. It was a tough task as she was playing as Black against Mariya Muzychuk. In the second French Defence game of the round, things were largely even until move nine when White made an error and prematurely castled on the queenside handing an advantage to Black.

Black has control of the center and her pieces are storming down the queenside. White tried to counter on the kingside but ended up even more exposed as Nana timely sacrificed an exchange and reached a very promising position.

10.f5 Rb811.Qe1 b5 12.f6 gxf6 13.Bh6 Kh8 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Bxf8 Qxf8 16.Qe3 b4 17.Ne2 Black is an exchange down, but she has the initiative, while White’s pieces are still largely undeveloped.

However, at this point, Nana started losing her way.

17…b3?? Keeping up the pressure with 17…a5 was the right choice. 18.cxb3 cxb3 19.a3 e5 20.Nc3? e4? Giving White some breathing space. Still, Black is better, and by move 26, she was completely winning.

In this position 26…Qe8; Qe7 or Qc5 were all strong choices. Instead, Dzagnidze offered a rook exchange with 26… Rd8 and let a large chunk of her advantage slip away. Still, just a couple of moves down the road, Nana missed another chance to secure victory, although it was not that easy to find.

Nana played 28…Nc6? which is OK (Black is still better), but not nearly as strong as 28…Bxe4! indicated by chess engines. The point is that after 29.Qxe4 Qd1+ 30.Qb1 Qd6!! White has no defense against 31…Nc4 (d3 or d7, depending on White’s reaction) followed by 32…Qxa3+ with checkmate in several moves.

When you miss several chances, despite being better on the board, the opposing player feels more comfortable. The game ended in a draw after 46 moves.

Dzagnidze left the playing hall, visibly annoyed at herself.

Alina Kashlinskaya – Anna Muzychuk

In the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the position was largely even during the game, until the end. It was a fight. A lot of things happening in the center, but both played precisely and the outcome was logical, as one of the commentators of the tournament, Keti Tsatsalashvili put it.

Both players are on one point.

 Round three pairings and dates

The third round of the first tournament in the 2024/25 Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Saturday, August 17, at 3 PM local time in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Round 3 pairings:

Anna Muzychuk – Alexandra Kosteniuk
Nana Dzagnidze – Alina Kashlinskaya
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Mariya Muzychuk
Stavroula Tsolakidou – Lela Javakhishvili
Vaishali R – Sarasadat Khademalsharieh

For more information about the event, including news, images, regulations, pairings, and games, please visit: womengrandprix.fide.com/

Written by Milan Dinic

Photos: Anna Shtourman