Tournament leader Aleksandra Goryachkina continued her winning streak when she defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk after the latter blundered a piece in an already difficult situation. Nana Dzagnidze self-destructed when she gave away her Queen for Rook and Bishop against Tan Zhongyi. After which it became almost impossible for her to make a comeback in the game. Anna Muzychuk and Mariya Muzychuk made a quick draw. Valentina Gunina and Kateryna Lagno also ended in an uneventful draw. Round 8 was the second match with the same opponents as round 1 with a reversed color. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Goryachkina extended her lead again by defeating Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
In QGD Ragozin Defence, Kosteniuk had no difficulty equalizing with the black pieces. However, in the middle game Goryachkina shuffled her pieces and placed them better and gained more space.
Aleksandra Goryachkina - Alexandra Kosteniuk, Round 8
White is in total control of the position. Find out the best continuation for White here.
Black just played 32...h6. How can White capitalize here on Black's mistake?
Gunina scored 1.5 against Kosteniuk in the tournament | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Alexandra Kosteniuk talks about her game | Video: FIDE Chess
The former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi had it easy against Nana Dzagnidze | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Tan Zhongyi - Nana Dzagnidze, Round 8
According to Nana, her first mistake was playing 18...Bf8 here. What do you think she should have played here instead?
Black played 19...dxc4 here which Nana believed to be working
In a post match interview, Nana admits that she missed her opponent's move when she played 29...Rxb5. What did she miss?
Nana played 28...Rb1 here. However she feels she should have played a5 here. Do you agree?
Some unforced errors by Nana cost her the game. Tan Zhongyi scored 1.5 against Nana Dzagnidze in the tournament | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
"I guess it's not my day today" - Nana Dzagnidze | Video: FIDE Chess
Anna-Mariya game ended up in a draw. Their score against each other is 1-1 in this Candidates | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Anna and Mariya Muzychuk talk about how they prepare, whether they follow each other's games and more | Video: FIDE Chess
Kateryna Lagno drew with Valentina Gunina again. Their score against each other is 1-1 in this tournament | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
"Nothing really happened today" - Kateryna Lagno talks about playing safe and more | Video: FIDE Chess
Round 9 will start on Monday 10th June 2019 at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Here are the pairings:
Alexandra Kosteniuk
— Kateryna Lagno
Valentina Gunina — Aleksandra Goryachkina
Mariya Muzychuk
— Tan Zhongyi
Nana Dzagnidze
— Anna Muzychuk
Watch all games live here from 5:30 p.m. IST
The organizers are FIDE, Russian Chess Federation, Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, and city administration of Kazan. The tournament is sponsored by PJSC PhosAgro and Russian Railways.
