Lausanne GP R8: Dzagnidze gets back in the lead
Reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun scored her first win of the tournament when she defeated IM Alina Kashlinskaya after the latter made a thematic tactical error in QGD Ragozin Defence. Nana Dzagnidze got back in the lead along with Goryachkina as the Georgian defeated Marie Sebag easily. Mariya Muzychuk made sure Kosteniuk's woes continued as she lost her fifth game of the event after making a strategical mistake in the endgame. Harika suffered her second loss of the event as she reached into an inferior endgame against Stefanova. Zhansaya continued her impressive run as she made a short draw with Anna Muzychuk. Goryachkina had the longest game of the day with Pia Cramling as they played for over six hours and 129 moves before making a draw. Photo: FIDE
Four decisive results in Round 8
One of the leaders, Alina Kashlinskaya fell for a thematic tactical trap in QGD Ragozin Defense against reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun which allowed her to score her first victory of the tournament. Nana Dzagnidze capitalized on Marie Sebag's blunder and won her game with ease. With this win Dzagnidze joined the lead with Goryachkina at 5.0/8 Goryachkina was held to a draw by the legendary Pia Cramling as the game went on for over six hours spanning 129 moves. This was Cramling's eighth consecutive draw in the tournament. Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk's woes continued as she lost her fifth game of the event, this time against Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya captured Kosteniuk's overstretched pawns and converted into a full point using her passed pawns in the Rook and few pawns ending. Zhansaya Abdumalik made a short draw with Anna Muzychuk in just 24 moves. Harika Dronavalli got into a difficult minor piece endgame where her knight got trapped for quite some time, unfortunately after freeing her knight also it wasn't able to save the game for her.
Kashlinskaya made a simple tactical mistake which is thematic in QGD Ragozin Defence and that cost her the game.
Kaslinskaya - Ju Wenjun
White continued here with 19.Bd4, however Ju Wenjun suggested that 19.Bd5 was a better continuation for white.
White blundered here with 21.Qe2. Find out the better continuation for white.
Georgia no.1 woman Nana Dzagnidze scored an easy win against French no.1 woman Marie Sebag who tried too hard and imploded.
Dzagnidze - Sebag
Black continued with 22...f4 but black should have delayed it by one move according to Dzagnidze and should have played 22...Bc8 first.
Here Sebag went with over ambitious 24...fxg3 which is a blunder, instead 24...Rg6 would have been fine.
After 18 moves both Goryachkina and Cramling had only bishop pair, knight and six pawns each. However Cramling was lacking enough space for her pieces.
Goryachkina - Cramling
White continued here with 61.Kd6. What was the better continuation instead?
White had one last chance to go for a win after 86...h5 but Goryachkina missed it by playing 87.Nd2. What did she miss?
Mariya Muzychuk opted for a rarely played variation in the Classical French Defence. According to her, Kosteniuk made a huge positional mistake in the Double Rook, Knight and many pawns endgame.
Kosteniuk - Mariya
According to Mariya, Kosteniuk's big mistake in the game was 24.Nc5. Find out why it is a mistake.
Zhansaya Abdumalik made a short draw with Anna Muzychuk in just 24 moves.
Harika reached into a minor piece endgame where her cornered knight got trapped.
Stefanova - Harika
Black made another mistake of playing 51...Nb8 after which it became very difficult for black to save the game.
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 8 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 12 | 2485 | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 0 - 1 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2583 | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | 2509 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 1 - 0 | GM | Sebag Marie | 2443 | 9 |
| 3 | 1 | 2579 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | GM | Cramling Pia | 2475 | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | 2482 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 0 - 1 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2551 | 7 |
| 5 | 3 | 2461 | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | ┬╜ - ┬╜ | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2535 | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | 2453 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 1 - 0 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2517 | 5 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 5 | 2517 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 2485 | 12 | |
| 2 | 6 | 2535 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2453 | 4 | |
| 3 | 7 | 2551 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | IM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 2461 | 3 | |
| 4 | 8 | 2475 | GM | Cramling Pia | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2482 | 2 | |
| 5 | 9 | 2443 | GM | Sebag Marie | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2579 | 1 | |
| 6 | 10 | 2583 | GM | Ju Wenjun | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 2509 | 11 |
