Vaishali Shines in Women’s Candidates Tournament
Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali has continued her impressive performance by defeating Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina in the 11th round of the Women’s Candidates tournament this Saturday.
With this win, Vaishali now has four victories under her belt, bringing her score to a noteworthy seven points from 11 games. Unfortunately for Goryachkina, this loss effectively puts an end to her chances in the tournament, leaving her with just five points, two behind the leader.
Vaishali’s triumph has also widened her lead, putting her a full point ahead of her closest rivals, Anna Muzychuk from Ukraine and Jiner Zhu from China. Both of them were held to draws in their respective games against Kateryna Lagno from Russia and Divya Deshmukh from India.
In this particular match, Goryachkina, playing white, made a surprising choice by employing the London system. Vaishali played confidently, managing to equalize early in the middle game. Though the Russian aimed to complicate the game after an early Queen exchange, Vaishali showcased her superior calculation skills, matching Goryachkina move for move. She cleverly trapped one of Goryachkina’s rooks in the center of the board. Despite losing only a pawn and a minor piece, Vaishali’s technique was flawless, allowing her to secure the win.
It’s worth noting that after starting off slowly in the tournament with four draws followed by a loss to Jiner Zhu, Vaishali has made a strong comeback with four wins and two draws since the sixth round, indicating that she is hitting her stride at just the right moment.
Meanwhile, Vaishali’s younger brother, R Praggnanandhaa, has had a tougher time in the open section. He missed a simple tactic in his game against Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, resulting in a draw.
In other matches, Hikaru Nakamura from the United States drew with China’s Wei Yi, knowing both players are out of the race. Dutch player Anish Giri also drew against Andrey Esipenko from Russia.
The tournament leader, Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan, managed to secure a draw against pre-tournament favorite Fabiano Caruana from the United States, increasing his score to an impressive 8.5 points, giving him a comfortable lead of two points over Giri with just three rounds remaining.
Results from Round 11:
- R Praggnanandhaa (India, 4.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (5)
- Anish Giri (Netherlands, 6.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Russia, 4)
- Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan, 8.5)
- Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5) drew with Wei Yi (China, 5)
Women’s Results:
- Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, 5) lost to R Vaishali (India, 7)
- Kateryna Lagno (Russia, 5.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)
- Zhongyi Tan (China, 4) drew with Bibisara Assuabayeva (Kazakhstan, 5.5)
- Jiner Zhu (China, 6) drew with Divya Deshmukh (India, 5)
The excitement of the tournament continues as the players gear up for the next rounds.
