Nicosia GP Round 6: Harika bounces back, Anna Muzychuk maintains her sole lead
GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) drew with GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) to maintain her sole lead after the sixth round of FIDE Nicosia GP 2025. GM Harika Dronavalli bounced back with a victory over GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO), after suffering a loss in the previous round. Harika could have probably finished things much earlier if she had seized her opportunity in the middlegame. In a relatively balanced rook vs bishop and knight with two pawns each endgame, the Georgian trapped her rook which cost her the full point. IM Divya Deshmukh forced a perpetual check to draw with IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE). Round 7 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
Harika reduces the gap
Former Women's World Champion, GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) scored her first win of the event against GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER). GM Harika Dronavalli, Mariya and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina are at 3.5/6 each, a full point behind the sole leader, GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 4.5/6. Anna drew with her closest chaser, GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) whose score is now 4/6.
Nana - Harika: 0-1
It has been just a little over five years since GM Harika Dronavalli (2513) defeated GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO, 2513) in a rated game. The last win was at Lausanne GP in March 2020. Harika could have finished things much earlier.
19...e4 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Qc3 e3! 22.dxe3 Ne4 would have probably finished things much earlier. Instead, 19...Nxf5 was played and the game eventually liquidated into a rook vs bishop and knight endgame with two pawns for each side. Ideally it should have ended in a draw. However, White blundered and trapped her rook which cost her the game.
57.Kg1?? is a blunder. Find out the winning continuation for Black which Harika played in 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 6 games
Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2513 | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | 0 - 1 | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | 2483 | 8 | |
| 2 | 9 | 2490 | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | 1 - 0 | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | 2424 | 7 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2548 | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | ½ - ½ | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | 2429 | 6 | |
| 4 | 2 | 2516 | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | ½ - ½ | GM | ZHU, JINER | 2514 | 5 | |
| 5 | 3 | 2470 | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | ½ - ½ | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | 2445 | 4 |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | UKR | 2516 | 4,5 | 2 | 13,00 | 3 |
| 2 | 5 | GM | ZHU, JINER | CHN | 2514 | 4 | 3 | 11,00 | 2 |
| 3 | 8 | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | IND | 2483 | 3,5 | 4 | 9,00 | 2 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | UKR | 2490 | 3,5 | 3 | 9,25 | 1 |
| 5 | 1 | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | FID | 2548 | 3,5 | 2 | 10,25 | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | GRE | 2445 | 2,5 | 3 | 6,25 | 1 |
| 7 | 10 | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | GEO | 2513 | 2,5 | 3 | 5,50 | 1 |
| 8 | 3 | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | IND | 2470 | 2,5 | 2 | 7,75 | 0 |
| 9 | 6 | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | AUT | 2429 | 2 | 4 | 5,50 | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | GER | 2424 | 1,5 | 4 | 4,50 | 1 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2445 | IM | TSOLAKIDOU, STAVROULA | GM | DZAGNIDZE, NANA | 2513 | 10 | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2514 | GM | ZHU, JINER | IM | DIVYA, DESHMUKH | 2470 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 2429 | IM | BADELKA, OLGA | GM | MUZYCHUK, ANNA | 2516 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 7 | 2424 | GM | PAEHTZ, ELISABETH | GM | GORYACHKINA, ALEKSANDRA | 2548 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 2483 | GM | DRONAVALLI, HARIKA | GM | MUZYCHUK, MARIYA | 2490 | 9 |
