The final round (ten) of the Battle of the Sexes match-tournament, held at Gibraltar, saw the men’s team win by 6½-3½ to finish overall winners by 53-47. The winners on the final day were Bobby Cheng, who beat Jovi Houska; Ravi Haria, who beat Olga Girya; and Bilel Bellahcene, who defeated Marie Sebag (her only loss of the event). Balazs Csonka drew his game with Marsel Efroimski and this was enough to secure his second grandmaster norm.
Round eight of the #GibChess Battle of Sexes, held at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Tuesday 1 February, resulted in a 5½-4½ victory for Team Sabino with the White pieces, increasing their overall score to 42½-37½ – a lead of five points for the men’s team with two rounds to go. The battle is now well and truly joined, with various chances coming and going, but the men’s team lead is starting to look hard to overturn. Report and photos by John Saunders.
Round seven of the #GibChess Battle of Sexes, held at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Monday 31 January, resulted in a 6-4 victory for Team Sabino with the black pieces, increasing their overall score to 37-33 – a lead of four points. But, once again, it could have been very different if Team Pia had taken all the chances offered in what was a particularly tense and hard-fought round. | Photo: Sir David Steel, Governor of Gibraltar, by John Saunders.
Round six of the #GibChess Battle of Sexes, held at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Sunday 30 January, saw the men’s team win by 6½-3½ on the day and, for the first time, move into the lead in the overall match by 31 points to 29. It was round of missed chances and swings of fortune as players became tired and the tension increased. For the first time since our arrival the sun shone outdoors, but not indoors on the women’s games as they didn’t get their fair share of whatever luck was going. Four rounds remain, and now it is the women’s team who need to fight back if they are to share the top prize of £75,000. Report and photos: John Saunders
The #GibChess Battle of the Sexes reached its halfway point at Gibraltar’s Garrison Library on Friday 28 January with a tense 5-5 draw in round five, with the women having White on all boards. The women thus still lead the men by a single point, with 25½ points to the men’s 24½. The match is beautifully poised for a tense second half when play resumes on Sunday | Report and photos by John Saunders