The fourth and final stage of the Women’s Grand Prix series kicked off in Cyprus. All six round-1 games finished decisively. The biggest shocker was Dinara Wagner’s victory over Aleksandra Goryachkina the latter entered the tournament in second place in the series’ overall ranking, only behind Zhu Jiner, who is not playing in Nicosia. Kateryna Lagno, Tan Zhongyi, Nana Dzagnidze, Harika Dronavalli and Gunay Mammadzada also scored full points. | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
The last of the four Women’s Grand Prix tournaments in the 2022-23 series begins on Tuesday, with Aleksandra Goryachkina the rating favourite. Zhu Jiner is leading the overall GP standings. However, the Chinese WGM has already participated in three tournaments, and thus will not be playing in Nicosia.
Newly established world chess champion Ding Liren will represent his
country at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, the Chinese Chess
Association has confirmed.
The third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix finished last Thursday in New Delhi. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Zhu Jiner and Bibsara Assaubayeva tied for first place. As ever, GM Karsten Müller followed the action closely, looking for exceptional positions to share with us. Find here three thought-provoking endgames with instructive analyses. | Pictured: Kateryna Lagno taking a look at Aleksandra Goryachkina’s position. | Photo: Ismael Nieto
The third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix was marred by the early withdrawal of two players. Zhansaya Abdumalik decided to leave due to organizational issues, and her withdrawal triggered other players to bring up further issues related to previous events. Harika Dronavalli was one of three Indian players in the field, and found herself struggling to decide how to react to the situation. Only after the tournament finished, she spoke up about the New Delhi debacle in a 13-minute video produced by ChessBase India. | Photo: FIDE / Ismael Nieto