A tough start for the GMs and favorites
The field of the second edition of Tata Steel Chess India 2023 Women is a very strong one. The average rating last year was 2396. This year it is 2379. So the difference in numbers are not so much. However, the tenth and eighth seeded, IM Divya Deshmukh and IM Vantika Agrawal rattled many top women player of the world.
Round 1: Harika - Divya: 0-1
India no.2 woman, GM Harika Dronavalli (2459) and IM Divya Deshmukh (2216) have had all three results in their first three encounters. However, this was the first time they were playing a rated Rapid game. Harika arrived at a queen, rook and minor piece endgame, down by a pawn.
White made a questionable decision of exchanging her bishop with the knight. It improved Black's passed pawn. 32.Bxb5? axb5 33.Qb4? Kh7 even Qd4 was playable too. White's position started deteriorating and soon she blundered.
51.g4?? just increased white king's vulnerability. 51...Qd1 52.Kg3 Qg1+ 53.Kf3 Qd1+ and Black won the game soon.
Round 2: Vantika - Ushenina: 1-0
IM Vantika Agrawal (2307) lost her first-ever Rapid encounter against the 14th Women's World Champion - GM Anna Ushenina (UKR, 2384) last year at the same time. Vantika was then a WGM and now she is an IM. She has evidently upped her game.
34...Bc6?? loses on the spot for Black. Find out the winning continuation.
Round 3: Nino - Divya: 0-1
IM Divya Deshmukh beat her second GM of the day, 44th Chess Olympiad individual Gold medalist, GM Nino Batsiashvili (GEO, 2364).
Surprisingly, White can still save the game 48.Rc7 e3 49.Rc2+ Kd3 50.Ra2 and now both side gets to promote a queen each and the game ends in a draw. However, White blundered 48.Kb4?? Divya seized her opportunity e3 and went on to win the game using her two queens against opponent's one.
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Replay Round 1-3 games
Round 1-3 results
| Round 1 on 2023/08/31 at 1500 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 2459 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 0 - 1 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2216 | 10 | PGN | |||
| 2 | 2 | 2364 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 1 - 0 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 2358 | 9 | PGN | |||
| 3 | 3 | 2236 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | ½ - ½ | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2307 | 8 | PGN | |||
| 4 | 4 | 2384 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | ½ - ½ | GM | Krush, Irina | 2405 | 7 | PGN | |||
| 5 | 5 | 2473 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | ½ - ½ | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2592 | 6 | PGN | |||
| Round 2 on 2023/08/31 at 1630 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2216 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | ½ - ½ | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2592 | 6 | PGN | |||
| 2 | 7 | 2405 | GM | Krush, Irina | 1 - 0 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2473 | 5 | PGN | |||
| 3 | 8 | 2307 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 1 - 0 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2384 | 4 | PGN | |||
| 4 | 9 | 2358 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 1 - 0 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | 2236 | 3 | PGN | |||
| 5 | 1 | 2459 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | ½ - ½ | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2364 | 2 | PGN | |||
| Round 3 on 2023/08/31 at 1800 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 2364 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 0 - 1 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2216 | 10 | PGN | |||
| 2 | 3 | 2236 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | ½ - ½ | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2459 | 1 | PGN | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2384 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | ½ - ½ | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 2358 | 9 | PGN | |||
| 4 | 5 | 2473 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 0 - 1 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2307 | 8 | PGN | |||
| 5 | 6 | 2592 | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Krush, Irina | 2405 | 7 | PGN | |||
Round 4-6 pairings
| Round 4 on 2023/09/01 at 1500 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2216 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | GM | Krush, Irina | 2405 | 7 | |||||
| 2 | 8 | 2307 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2592 | 6 | |||||
| 3 | 9 | 2358 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2473 | 5 | |||||
| 4 | 1 | 2459 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2384 | 4 | |||||
| 5 | 2 | 2364 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | 2236 | 3 | |||||
| Round 5 on 2023/09/01 at 1630 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 3 | 2236 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2216 | 10 | |||||
| 2 | 4 | 2384 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2364 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 5 | 2473 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2459 | 1 | |||||
| 4 | 6 | 2592 | GM | Ju, Wenjun | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 2358 | 9 | |||||
| 5 | 7 | 2405 | GM | Krush, Irina | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2307 | 8 | |||||
| Round 6 on 2023/09/01 at 1800 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||||
| 1 | 10 | 2216 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2307 | 8 | |||||
| 2 | 9 | 2358 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | GM | Krush, Irina | 2405 | 7 | |||||
| 3 | 1 | 2459 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | GM | Ju, Wenjun | 2592 | 6 | |||||
| 4 | 2 | 2364 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2473 | 5 | |||||
| 5 | 3 | 2236 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2384 | 4 | |||||
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
| 1 | 10 | WGM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2216 | 2,5 | 0 | 0 | 3,50 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | 8 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2307 | 2,5 | 0 | 0 | 2,00 | 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Ju, Wenjun | CHN | 2592 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | GEO | 2364 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 2,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | 9 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | FID | 2358 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Krush, Irina | USA | 2405 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 3 | WIM | Savitha, Shri B | IND | 2236 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,75 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 4 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | UKR | 2384 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,50 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2459 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 5 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2473 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 |
