FIDE WSCC GP2: Vaishali beats Anna Muzychuk

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/07/2020

WGM Vaishali R continued her terrific run at FIDE chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship as she knocked out former Women's World Rapid and Blitz Champion GM Anna Muzychuk by beating her 6-4 in the Round of 16. Despite being down by 2-4, she made a fantastic comeback and won the match by 6-4. She will face GM Valentina Gunina in the Quarter-Finals. Vaishali is at the fourth position in the GP Standings with 5 points. The only other Indian taking part in this GP was Harika who lost against the in-form and WSCC GP1 winner Anna Ushenina. Harika lost by 4-7 against the former Women's World Champion. Quarter-Finals will take place today from 6 p.m. IST. Photo: Amruta Mokal and FIDE

Vaishali advances to the Quarter-Finals

WGM Vaishali R has advanced for the Quarter-Finals of FIDE chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship. She defeated the former Women's World Rapid and Blitz Champion GM Anna Muzychuk in the Round of 16. Despite being down by 2-4, she made a strong comeback and won the match 6-4 to set a meet with Valentina Gunina in the Quarter-Finals today at 6 pm IST. Harika Dronavalli was the other Indian taking part in GP2. She lost to GP1 winner Anna Ushenina by 4-7 and got knocked out.

Vaishali got the better of Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Amruta Mokal and FIDE

Vaishali missed a win in Round 2

It is well established that Anna Muzychuk is very strong in the endgame. Despite getting a winning position in the endgame, Vaishali blundered and her opponent Anna Muzychuk capitalized on it.

Vaishali - Anna Muzychuk, Game 2

Position after 38...Kd6

Vaishali made a mistake here with 39.e5. Find out why it is mistake and what was the better alternative.

Vaishali won Game 4

Vaishali capitalized on her opponent's mistake of blundering a pawn in Double Rook and Bishop endgame in the first 3+1 game. Soon after that she gained a couple of more pawns and won the game on time. Although she was winning on the board too.

Anna Muzychuk blundered in Game 7

In the last game of 3+1, Vaishali managed to turn things around as she won a game in a completely lost position after her opponent blundered a piece. Vaishali scored a much needed victory after losing two consecutive games.

Anna Muzychuk - Vaisali, Game 7

Position after 46.Ra3

Find out why 46.Ra3 is a huge mistake.

Going into the Bullet stage, Vaishali was trailing by 3-4. She won all three Bullet games to win the match by 6-4 and advance to the Quarter-Finals.

Round of 16 results | Photo: chess.com

Replay all games between Anna Muzychuk-Vaishali in Round of 16

A missed opportunity

Harika (Elegance_Riks) started with three draws against the in-form GP1 winner Anna Ushenina (Enki007)

Anna Ushenina - Harika, Game 2

Position after 54...Kg5

Find out the winning continuation for white which Harika missed.

Another miss by Harika

It is clear that this is not the best version of Harika we are all familiar about as she missed two wins in two consecutive matches.

Harika - Anna Ushenina, Game 3

Position after 22...e5

Find out the winning continuation for white after 22...e5

Mate in two

It is true that time scramble can cause a lot of players to miss a whole lot of opportunities but when someone of Harika's calibre misses a mate in two with 19 seconds left on the clock, you can say the player is a bit out of form.

Anna Ushenina - Harika, Game 6

Position after 48.f4

Find out the mate in two after 48.f4

Finally Harika capitalized

After a few misses, Harika finally punished her opponent for making a mistake and scored a victory in the final 3+1 Blitz game.

Harika - Anna Ushenina, Game 7

Position after 29...Bc5

Find out why 29...Bc5 is a blunder.

A consolation victory

In a completely equal endgame, Anna Ushenina blundered and lost her game. She had already won the match 6-3.

Anna Ushenina - Harika, Game 10

Position after 42...Kg7

White blundered here with 43.Be4. Find out why it is a mistake and what white should have played instead.

Off-form Harika got a few opportunities against the in-form Anna Ushenina | Photo: FIDE

Replay all games between Harika-Anna Ushenina from Round of 16

Quarter-Finals Schedule

Quarter-Finals will take place today | Source: chess.com

Prizes

GP Points and Prizes | Source: chess.com

GP Players

Women's Speed Chess Championship has nine seeded players, among them reigning Women's World Rapid Champion GM Koneru Humpy is there | Source: chess.com

Each leg is a 16-player knockout event and will last five days (including one rest day after the semi-finals). The dates will be June 24-28th, July 1-5th, July 8-12th and July 15-19th, with games starting at 14:30 CET (6 p.m. IST)

GP Standings

Each player will play three out of the four legs in the Grand Prix | Source: chess.com

Replay the livestream

Live commentary by GM Robert Hess and WGM Jennifer Shahade | Video: FIDE

Links

FIDE

chess.com

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