Nicosia GP Round 5: Anna Muzychuk scores a hat-trick, emerges sole leader
GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) scored a hat-trick of wins to gain sole lead after the fifth round of FIDE Nicosia GP 2025. In the opening, Anna sacrificed a pawn. She was not sure if it was good. However, she had enough compensation for it. Eventually in time trouble, her opponent, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE) made a one-move blunder and paid a heavy price for it. IM Divya Deshmukh drew with GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO). GM Harika Dronavalli misplayed in the opening and could not recover for the rest of the game against GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER). GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) is the sole pursuer at 3.5/5, followed by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina at 3/5. Today is the sole rest day. Round 6 starts tomorrow Friday from 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
Anna gains a huge momentum
GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) won three games in-a-row to emerge sole leader 4/5. GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) drew with GM Aleksandra Goryachkina which means Jiner is at 3.5/5, followed by Goryachkina at 3/5. GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR), GM Harika Dronavalli and GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) are at 2.5/5 each.
Stavroula - Anna: 0-1
GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2516) defeated IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE, 2445) once and drew the remaining two Classical games. Anna decided to sacrifice a pawn in the opening when she played 9...Bb7.
During the game Black wasn't sure if the pawn sacrifice was good. After the game she found that the computer approves it. 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Nxb5 Bb6 12.Nc3 Rc8 and Black is doing fine.
After 24.Rad1 Black was considering e5 and she calculated a myriad of variations which she mentioned in the post-game interview. Eventually, White made a one move blunder in time trouble and lost the game.
Replay live stream
GP Standings
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina is the new sole leader of the GP with 236.67 points, followed by IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) 197.5 and GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) 170 points. Bibisara has played all three of her GP events of the season. So, she has none left.
Prizes
Total prize fund is €80000. The top three prizes are €18000, €13000 and €10500 each. The top three GP points are - 130, 105 and 85. For more details, check out the regulations below.
Schedule
Round 1 starts on 15th March at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. The tournament will go on till 24th March 2025. Sole rest day is on Thursday 20th March.
Replay Round 5 games
Round 5 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2470 | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | ½ - ½ | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | 2513 | 10 | |
| 2 | 4 | 2445 | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | 0 - 1 | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | 2516 | 2 | |
| 3 | 5 | 2514 | GM | ZHU, JINER | ½ - ½ | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | 2548 | 1 | |
| 4 | 6 | 2429 | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | ½ - ½ | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | 2490 | 9 | |
| 5 | 7 | 2424 | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | 1 - 0 | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | 2483 | 8 |
Standings after Round 5
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | UKR | 2516 | 4 | 2 | 9,25 | 3 |
| 2 | 5 | GM | ZHU, JINER | CHN | 2514 | 3,5 | 2 | 7,00 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | FID | 2548 | 3 | 2 | 8,00 | 1 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | UKR | 2490 | 2,5 | 3 | 6,50 | 0 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | IND | 2483 | 2,5 | 3 | 5,25 | 1 |
| 6 | 10 | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | GEO | 2513 | 2,5 | 3 | 4,75 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | IND | 2470 | 2 | 2 | 5,25 | 0 |
| 8 | 4 | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | GRE | 2445 | 2 | 2 | 4,00 | 1 |
| 9 | 7 | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | GER | 2424 | 1,5 | 3 | 3,25 | 1 |
| 10 | 6 | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | AUT | 2429 | 1,5 | 3 | 3,25 | 0 |
Round 6 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2513 | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | 2483 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 9 | 2490 | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | 2424 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 2548 | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | 2429 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2516 | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | GM | ZHU, JINER | 2514 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 2470 | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | 2445 | 4 |
