Lausanne GP R7: Harika draws, Goryachkina and Kashlinskaya maintain lead
Harika made a short draw with IM Zhansaya Abdumalik as she continues her impressive run at the tournament with 4.0/7. Anna Muzychuk scored the only victory of the round against Alexandra Kosteniuk. Anna capitalized on Kosteniuk's mistake in the endgame and had no difficulty converting her advantage into a full point. Kashlinskaya made a quick draw with Stefanova in just 14 moves. Marie Sebag held reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun to a draw in the longest game of the round. Mariya Muzychuk made a quiet draw with Goryachkina. Pia Cramling and Nana Dzagnidze drew their game. Goryachkina and Kashlinskaya maintained their lead at 4.5/7. Photo: FIDE
Anna Muzychuk scores the sole win in Round 7
Harika Dronavalli made a short draw with IM Zhansaya Abdumalik in just 30 moves, employing the same opening Four Knights' Game which she used against Ju Wenjun. Anna Muzychuk scored the sole victory of the round as she defeated Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk after the latter miscalculated and lost a pawn in the later part of the endgame, after which it was just a matter of time for Anna to score the full point. We are well aware of her endgame technical prowess. With this win she moved 4.0/7, a half point behind the leaders. Mariya Muzychuk interestingly opted for Evan's Gambit against Goryachkina. However pieces got exchanged at regular intervals and the game lacked any fireworks which the opening is known for. The game ended up in a draw after 37 moves. Pia pushed hard against Dzagnidze to create something. Unfortunately neither side made any big mistake and the game remained equal throughout. Draw became a natural result and after 57 moves a draw was agreed. Marie Sebag had the longest game of the day spanning over five hours and 81 moves. She held the reigning Women's World Champion Ju Champion to a draw. Kashlinskaya made a quick draw with Stefanova in just 14 moves.
Kosteniuk made a rare move 6...g6 in Petroff Defence, Anna said, "I knew this exists, but I didn't remember how to meet this line.
Anna Muzychuk - Kosteniuk
Find out the best continuation for white after 33...Rf7
Harika had a quiet draw with IM Zhansaya Abdumalik. Although at one point, Harika's 20-year old opponent Abdumalik was in firm control of the game.
Harika - Abdumalik
Black could have continued her in various ways 19...Qd6, Be6 or a5, any of those would have been better than what was played 19...dxc4 as it breaks the pawn chain. Perhaps the young Kazakh opted for the capture to keep the position since she had a bishop pair?
Neither side was ever in any kind of danger throughout the game and with the pieces getting exchanged at regular intervals, the eventually ended up in a draw after 30 moves when the game reached to a Rook and Opposite Color Bishop endgame.
Goryachkina handled Mariya's surprise of Evan's Gambit quite well. She opted for a calm variation where white doesn't get much chances. The game eventually liquidated into an equal Same Color Bishop endgame and a draw was agreed after 37 moves.
Pia Cramling faced Gruenfeld Defence from Nana Dzagnidze where Black equalized easily out of the opening. Pieces got exchanged at regular interval and the game reached to an equal Rook and Same Color Bishop ending where draw seemed to be the obvious result.
Marie Sebag had the longest game of the round as played bravely and held reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun to a draw after 81 moves.
IM Alina Kashlinskaya made a quick draw in just 14 moves against former Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova.
The eleven round, Round-Robin event will go on till 13th March 2020. All round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Only the last round will start at 11:30 a.m. local time, 4 p.m. IST
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Round 7 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 4 | 2453 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 2485 | 12 |
| 2 | 5 | 2517 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 2461 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 | 2535 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 1 - 0 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2482 | 2 |
| 4 | 7 | 2551 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2579 | 1 |
| 5 | 8 | 2475 | GM | Cramling Pia | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 2509 | 11 |
| 6 | 9 | 2443 | GM | Sebag Marie | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2583 | 10 |
Round 8 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 12 | 2485 | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2583 | 10 | |
| 2 | 11 | 2509 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | GM | Sebag Marie | 2443 | 9 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2579 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | GM | Cramling Pia | 2475 | 8 | |
| 4 | 2 | 2482 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2551 | 7 | |
| 5 | 3 | 2461 | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2535 | 6 | |
| 6 | 4 | 2453 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2517 | 5 |
