Pool B, the second stage of the 2022-23 FIDE Girls’s Candidates Event held in Khiva, Uzbekistan, began with two attracts. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina was near a decisive benefit in her recreation with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, whereas GM Tan Zhongyi vs. GM Kateryna Lagno was about equal on a regular basis.
The second recreation in each matches begins Wednesday, November 30 at 2 a.m. Pacific / 11:00 CET. The winner of Pool B will play Pool A winner GM Lei Tingjie for an opportunity to problem Girls’s World Champion Ju Wenjun within the subsequent title match.
You possibly can watch the 2022-2023 FIDE Girls’s Candidates Event on our Twitch channel. Video games from the occasion will be considered on our occasions web page.
25 days after Lei secured her spot within the Girls’s Candidates remaining, by successful Pool A in Monaco, the struggle for the opposite spot began on Tuesday within the historic oasis metropolis of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Discovered about 1,500 years in the past, it’s well-known for being the birthplace of the astronomer, historian, and polymath Al-Biruni (973-1048 CE).
Uzbekistan can be the birthplace of a few of at the moment’s greatest skills in chess, and due to this fact it is fairly becoming that it’s now internet hosting a prestigious FIDE occasion as a part of the world championship cycle.
Whereas two Ukrainian members performed in Pool A, FIDE has positioned the three Russian gamers in Pool B. As soon as once more, these quarterfinals and semifinals encompass four-game matches, whereas the ultimate, to be held within the first quarter of 2023, shall be six classical video games. In case of a tie on the finish of every spherical, a fast/blitz tiebreak shall be performed.
For her first recreation, Lagno did not go for the Grunfeld, her typical alternative, however performed the Queen’s Gambit Declined as a substitute. As Tan went for the Alternate variation, Lagno performed an early Nf6-e8-d6!? maneuver, additionally tried just lately by GM Magnus Carlsen, on the European Membership Cup.
Black’s entire setup, with the opposite knight going to a6 and pushing …b5, was fairly successful as a result of Tan was too hesitant with “countering” within the heart.
“I believe I had a slight edge after she gave me the light-squared bishop however then I simply could not discover the suitable method to proceed,” mentioned Lagno. “In all probability I mustn’t have taken on d3. After that I believe the place is already equal.”
Additionally within the different recreation, an Anti-Berlin Ruy Lopez, it was Black who had the higher possibilities. In actual fact, Goryachkina’s benefit was near -3, in engine analysis phrases, on transfer 34. The direct 34…Qh5, threatening to enter on e2 whereas additionally preserving the choice of 34…b4 and successful the battle for central squares, would have been powerful to satisfy for Kosteniuk.
“I believe in some unspecified time in the future I began doing one thing improper,” mentioned Kosteniuk. “I used to be very anxious about my place. I believe in time-trouble I bought fortunate to trade all the pieces. In fact I am not very happy with my efficiency at the moment.”
The 2022-23 Girls’s Candidates Event is an elite occasion that includes eight prime feminine gamers, who compete in a knockout format for a share of the €250,000 prize fund and the suitable to play within the Girls’s World Championship match in opposition to Girls’s World Champion Ju Wenjun.
Pool A was gained by GM Lei Tingjie; Pool B takes place November 29-December 11, 2022 in Khiva, Uzbekistan. The prize fund is 70,000 euros, whereas one other 110,000 shall be at stake in subsequent yr’s remaining. The time management is 90 minutes for the primary 40 strikes, adopted by half-hour for the remainder of the sport with an increment of 30 seconds per transfer ranging from transfer one. A draw provide earlier than transfer 40 is just not allowed.
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