Shymkent GP R3: Humpy beats Batkhuyag
GM Koneru Humpy won her first game at FIDE Shymkent GP against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL). The Mongolia no.1 woman misplaced her queen. Things spiraled out of her control after that. IM Divya Deshmukh did not capture the d5-pawn at the right time, probably fearing 27...Ne4. Instead, she played 27.f3 which just created weakness on the kingside and things spiraled out of control. The current Women's World Championship Challenger, GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) defeated GM Kateryna Lagno with a beautiful knight sacrifice, followed by a rook sac to win her second game here and gain sole lead 2.5/3. Humpy will battle against IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) and Divya will face Zhongyi in Round 4. It starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Konstantin Chalabov
Zhongyi wins against Kateryna with a beautiful knight sacrifice, followed by a rook sac
The game of the third round has to be GM Zhongyi Tan's (CHN) win over GM Kateryna Lagno. First, she sacrificed her knight to break her opponent's kingside. Then she sacrificed her rook while keeping her opponent's queen at the edge of the board, farthest from the aid of her king. Currently, four players - IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ), GM Koneru Humpy, IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE) and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina are trailing the sole leader by a half point at 2/3 each.
Divya - Goryachkina: 0-1
IM Divya Deshmukh (2493) faced GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2528) twice in Classical rated games. She lost the first one and drew the next. Both were played at FIDE Women's World Cup 2023. Divya employed Scotch Game for the second time at this event.
In the above position, White could have simply taken the d5-pawn 27.Nxd5 Rxd5 28.Rxd5 Nxd5 29.Rxd5 Qxa2 and the game would have ended in a draw eventually. Goryachkina also mentioned in the post-game interview. Divya was probably not comfortable with 27...Ne4 and opted for 27.f3 which created a difficult pawn structure and weakness on the kingside. The game reached a queen, double rook and knight endgame which was equal according to computer, the reality was far from it as White lacked space and the kingside pawn structure was less than optimal.
It was certainly not easy to play the above position, especially when your opponent is the reigning FIDE Women's World Cup champion. 32.b4 axb4 33.Rb1? White could not recapture on b4 immediately as Re1+ would have ended things in a hurry. 33...g5 34.Qf5 Qd6 35.Rdd1 Nh5 36.Kg1 Ng3 37.Qg4 Ne2+ 38.Kf2 Nc3 39.Qxb4 Qh2 40.Rg1 Rxd3 and Black won as White's king is vulnerable and she has no compensation for the lost knight.
Zhongyi - Lagno
22...b6? created an opportunity for GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2551) to strike 23.Nxe6! fxe6 24.Qxe6+ Kg7 25.cxb6 Qxc3 26.bxa5 Qxa5 27.g4 h6 28.h4 Bxh4 29.g5 Nf5 30.Qf6+ Kh7 after repeating the position once White sacrificed her rook 33.Re7+ Nxe7 34.Qxe7+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kh7 36.f5 and White won the game in the next few moves.
Batkhuyag - Humpy
IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL, 2344) made a critical error 19.Qe2? Instead, 19.Qe1 would have been fine for White. Her opponent, GM Koneru Humpy (2530) had no trouble seizing her opportunity 19...fxe4-+ 20.fxe5 Bg4! if the queen was already at e1, Bg4 would not have been effective 21.Qe1 exd3 22.Rxf8+ Rxf8 23.exd6 Nb7 and Black won the game in the next few moves.
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Replay Round 3 games
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
Every day round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Only the last round starts at 1 p.m. local time, 1:30 p.m. IST. The tournament will go on till 8th November 2024. Sole rest day is on Monday 4th November.
Round 3 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | IND | 2501 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 0 - 1 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2533 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 3 | CHN | 2551 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 1 - 0 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | FID | 2527 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | MGL | 2344 | IM | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | 0 - 1 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2530 | 9 | |||
| 4 | 5 | BUL | 2405 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | ½ - ½ | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | GER | 2458 | 8 | |||
| 5 | 6 | KAZ | 2487 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | ½ - ½ | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2439 | 7 |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | CHN | 2551 | 2,5 | 1 | 2,50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 6 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | KAZ | 2487 | 2 | 2 | 3,00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2530 | 2 | 2 | 2,75 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 7 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2439 | 2 | 2 | 2,50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2533 | 2 | 2 | 2,50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 1 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | FID | 2527 | 1 | 1 | 1,50 | 0 | 0,5 | 0 | |
| 2 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2501 | 1 | 1 | 1,50 | 0 | 0,5 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 5 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | BUL | 2405 | 1 | 1 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 4 | IM | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | MGL | 2344 | 1 | 1 | 0,50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | GER | 2458 | 0,5 | 2 | 0,50 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | FID | 2533 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2439 | 7 | ||||
| 2 | 8 | GER | 2458 | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | KAZ | 2487 | 6 | ||||
| 3 | 9 | IND | 2530 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | BUL | 2405 | 5 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | FID | 2527 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | IM | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | MGL | 2344 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | IND | 2501 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | CHN | 2551 | 3 |
