Goryachkina Leads after Five Rounds in Women's Candidates

Aleksandra Goryachkina leads the 2019 Women’s Candidate Tournament after five rounds with a score of 4/5, a half-point ahead of Nana Dzagnidze. Dzagnidze appeared to be running away with the tournament after her fourth round win over Valentina Gunina, but she was brought back to earth today after her defeat at the hands of Alexandra Kosteniuk. Round 4 Nana Dzagnidze — Valentina Gunina | 1 — 0 Alexandra Kosteniuk — Tan Zhongyi | draw Anna Muzychuk — Aleksandra Goryachkina | draw Mariya Muzychuk — Kateryna Lagno | 0 — 1 Entering the day’s play tied for first at 2.5/3, Nana Dzagnidze handled Valentina Gunina’s surprise – a French Defense, something not seen in her practice since 2010 – with aplomb, getting a good position out of the opening and then taking advantage of Gunina’s ill-placed queen.  

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Black "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2510"]
[BlackElo "2506"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. cxd5 Bb4 8.
Bg5 Nbd7 9. Be2 h6 10. Bh4 Nb6 11. O-O Bxc3 $6 {It seems a bit dodgy to give
up the bishop pair and give White a mobile pawn center.} 12. bxc3 Nbxd5 13. Rc1
c6 14. Ne5 g5 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Bc4 Kg7 17. Re1 Nxg3 18. hxg3 Be6 19. Bb3 Qf6 20.
c4 Ne7 $2 {Cutting off escape squares for the queen.} (20... Nb6 21. Rc3 Rae8
22. Rf3 Qd8 {is a more harmonious reconfiguration of the pieces, although of
course White is definitely better.}) 21. Rc3 h5 {A sad necessity. Now White's
pieces pour in.} 22. Rf3 Qh6 23. d5 $1 cxd5 24. cxd5 Rad8 25. Qa1 $1 f6 26. Nd3
g4 27. Rfe3 h4 28. Rxe6 Ng6 29. Qc1 Qh8 30. Nf4 1-0

[/pgn]

Kateryna Lagno took the other full point of the round, sacrificing an exchange on move 11 and gaining a decisive advantage with 33. …Nd3! This was Lagno’s first win of the tournament.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Muzychuk, M."]
[Black "Lagno, Kateryna"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2563"]
[BlackElo "2554"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2019.05.30"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Kh8 8. c3
Ng8 9. d4 f5 10. dxe5 fxe4 11. Rxe4 Rxf3 $5 {Giving up the exchange so early
seems risky, but the idea is fairly well known to theory, and the database
statistics show that it's more than sound!} 12. gxf3 Nxe5 13. Bf4 (13. Rxe5
dxe5 14. Qxd8 Bxd8 15. Nd2 $11 {1/2-1/2 (21) Fedorchuk,S (2635)-Giri,A (2722)
Germany 2012}) 13... Nxc4 14. Rxc4 Be6 {This is natural and new. Other moves
have been seen in correspondence play.} (14... Bf5 15. Rb4 Qc8 16. Na3 Bf6 17.
Bg3 Ne7 18. a5 Nc6 19. Ra4 Bd7 {1/2-1/2 (41) Kuhne,D (2268)-Kahl,F (2183) corr
LSS 2017}) (14... Nf6 15. Rd4 Nh5 16. Bg3 Bf6 17. Re4 Bd7 18. Re1 Bc6 19. b4 a6
20. Ra3 $14 {1-0 (37) Kuhne,D (2268)-Tylecek,D (2043) corr LSS 2017}) 15. Re4
Bf5 16. Nd2 {Giving back the material.} (16. Re1 $5) 16... Bxe4 17. fxe4 Qd7
18. Bg3 Rf8 19. Kg2 Bg5 20. Nf3 Bf4 21. Nd4 Ne7 22. Qb3 Ng6 23. Qe6 (23. Qxb7
$6 Qg4 $36) 23... Qd8 24. Qd5 Qf6 25. Nf5 c6 26. Qd4 Be5 27. Qe3 (27. Qxa7 d5
$13) 27... d5 28. f3 Bxg3 29. hxg3 Ne5 (29... dxe4 $5 30. fxe4 Ne5) 30. Re1
dxe4 31. fxe4 g6 32. Nd4 c5 33. Nb5 Nd3 $1 34. Rb1 (34. Qxd3 $2 Qf2+ 35. Kh3
Qxe1) 34... Qf2+ (34... Nf2 $1 {threatens ... Qe6 and imminent doom. Play
might continue} 35. Rf1 (35. Nc7 g5 $1 {(finding another route to h3)} 36. g4 {
(so that the queen guards h3)} Nxg4 37. Qg3 h5 $19) 35... Ng4 36. Rxf6 Nxe3+
37. Kf3 Rxf6+ 38. Kxe3 $19) 35. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 36. Kg1 Rxb2 37. Rxb2 Nxb2 $19 38.
a5 Nc4 39. Nxa7 Nxa5 40. Kf2 Kg7 41. Kf3 Kf6 42. Kf4 g5+ 43. Kg4 Kg6 44. Nc8
h5+ 45. Kf3 Nc4 46. Ne7+ Kf6 47. Nf5 Ke5 48. Ng7 Nd2+ 49. Ke3 Nxe4 50. Nxh5 c4
51. g4 b5 52. Ng7 Nxc3 53. Nf5 Nd5+ 54. Kd2 b4 55. Kc2 Kf4 56. Nd6 Nb6 0-1

[/pgn]

Round 5 Valentina Gunina — Mariya Muzychuk | draw Alexandra Kosteniuk — Nana Dzagnidze  | 1 — 0 Aleksandra Goryachkina — Tan Zhongyi | 1 — 0 Kateryna Lagno — Anna Muzychuk | draw With her draw in round 4, coupled with Dzagnide’s victory, Aleksandra Goryachinka entered today’s play a half-point back of the leader. But after Goryachinka’s win over Tan Zhongyi and Dzagnize’s loss to Kosteniuk, the two Russians have flip-flopped, with Goryachinka taking sole possession of first place, and Dzagnidze moving into clear second, a full point ahead of Kosteniuk, Tan, and Lagno. The Dzagnidze game was first to finish, with Kosteniuk defeating her in 42 moves.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. c4
Qd7 9. d5 exd5 10. cxd5 {Rare.} (10. g4 Bg6 11. Ne5 {is more common.}) 10...
Bd6 (10... Qxd5 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Nc3 Qd7 13. Be3 Be7 14. Rd1 Qc8 15. Nd5 Nxd5
16. Rxd5 Bg6 17. O-O O-O 18. Bxc5 Re8 19. Bxe7 Rxe7 20. Rd2 {1/2-1/2 (20)
Schmittdiel,E (2410)-Mednis,E (2440) Ostend 1993}) (10... Nxd5 11. g4 Bg6 12.
Ne5 Qe6 13. O-O) 11. Nh4 Bg6 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Nc3 a6 14. O-O Kf8 $5 {Very
sharp.} (14... O-O) 15. f4 Qc7 16. f5 $5 {Perhaps in part due to her position
in the standings, Kosteniuk takes the fight to the leader Dzagnidze.} gxf5 17.
Rxf5 Nbd7 18. Qf1 Re8 19. Bg5 Be5 20. Rd1 Qd6 21. Kh1 b5 22. Bd3 Kg8 23. Re1 c4
24. Bc2 Qb8 25. Qf3 Bd6 26. Qd1 Rxe1+ 27. Qxe1 Qe8 28. Qxe8+ Nxe8 29. Ne4 f6
30. Be3 Be5 31. b3 Nc7 32. bxc4 bxc4 33. d6 Nb5 34. a4 Na3 35. Bd1 Kf7 36. Bc1
Rh4 $2 {Dzagnidze has, until now, sopped up Kosteniuk's aggressive intentions,
but here she makes a mistake.} 37. Ng5+ $1 Kg6 (37... Ke8 {is hardly better:}
38. Nf3 Re4 39. Bxa3 g6 40. Rxe5+ Nxe5 (40... fxe5 $2 41. Bc2) 41. Nxe5 Rxe5)
38. Nf3 {Two Black pieces are en prise, but White's rook is also hanging. What
to do?} Re4 (38... Kxf5 39. Nxh4+ Ke6 40. Bxa3 {wins a piece.}) (38... Rxh3+
39. gxh3 Kxf5 40. Bxa3) 39. g4 $1 Nb1 (39... Bxd6 40. Rd5 $1 {and all of
Black's army is loose}) 40. Bc2 Nc3 41. Nxe5+ fxe5 42. Rf3 1-0

[/pgn]

Kosteniuk analyzed her game with IM Elisabeth Paehtz afterwards on the livestream, and it is archived at the FIDE YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ZNmQS0xEg Goryachkina continued to exhibit impressive endgame skill, downing Gunina in another rook endgame.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Black "Tan, Zhongyi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2513"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8.
Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Nb3 Be7 12. Nfd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd5 14.
Na5 (14. Bd2) 14... Bb4 15. Nc4 (15. Bd2 Nc3 16. Nxb7 Nxe2+ 17. Kf1 Nc3 18.
Bxc3 Bxc3 19. Rac1 Bxb7 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Rxc3 Rxb7 22. d5 exd5 23. Rxd5 Re8
24. Ra5 g6 25. Rca3 Ree7 26. g4 Kg7 27. Kg2 h6 28. h4 Rbc7 29. Kg3 Rb7 30. h5
g5 31. Re3 Red7 {1/2-1/2 (31) Rapport,R (2726)-Yu,Y (2751) Shenzhen 2019})
15... Bd7 $146 16. Rb1 Ba4 ({If} 16... Nc3 17. Bd2 $1 Nxe2+ {(taking either
rook allows Bxb4 with tempo, and the knight never gets out)} 18. Kf1 Bxd2 19.
Kxe2 (19. Rxd2 $6 Nc3 $11) 19... Bg5 20. Rxb7 Rad8 $14) 17. Rf1 Bc3 18. Bxd5
exd5 19. Ne3 Bxd4 20. Nxd5 b5 21. Bb2 Bxb2 (21... Bc5 22. Rfc1 Rfc8 23. Bd4 Ba3
24. Rxc8+ Rxc8 25. Bxa7 Rc2 $11) 22. Rxb2 Rfd8 23. Nc3 Rac8 24. Nxb5 Bxb5 25.
Rxb5 Rd2 26. Rfb1 Rxa2 27. Rc5 Rd8 (27... Re8 28. e4 (28. e3 g6 $11) 28... Re2
(28... Rxe4 $4 29. Rc8+) 29. Rb7 R2xe4 30. Rxa7 $11) 28. Kf1 Ra6 $6 (28... Re8)
29. Rb7 Rh6 30. Rcc7 (30. h4 a6 31. Rcc7 Rf8 {transposes}) 30... Rf8 31. h4 a6
32. f3 Rf6 33. g4 h5 34. g5 Rf4 (34... Rd6 {and it's getting harder to see how
White makes progress.}) 35. Kg2 Rd4 (35... Rxh4 $4 36. e4 {effectively traps
the rook.}) 36. g6 Rf4 37. Ra7 Rf6 38. gxf7+ R8xf7 39. Rxf7 Rxf7 40. Rxa6 {
Black is in for a long defensive struggle, even if the position should
objectively be drawn.} Kh7 41. Ra4 Kg6 42. Kf2 Rc7 43. Ra6+ Kf7 44. Ra5 g6 45.
Kg3 Rc1 46. Kf4 Kg7 47. e4 Rf1 48. Ra7+ Kf6 $2 (48... Kf8) 49. e5+ $1 {Now the
White king gets in.} Ke6 50. Ra6+ Kf7 51. Kg5 Rg1+ 52. Kh6 Rh1 53. Rxg6 Rxh4
54. Rf6+ Ke7 55. Kg5 Rh1 56. Rh6 Rg1+ 57. Kf5 Rh1 58. Rh7+ Kf8 59. e6 Kg8 60.
Ra7 h4 61. Ra8+ Kg7 62. e7 1-0

[/pgn]

Play continues tomorrow at 3pm Kazan time, or 8am EDT. GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and IM Elisabeth Paehtz offer live commentary via the FIDE YouTube Channel. Rounds will be played daily through June 17th, with rest days on June 7th, 11th, and June 15th. Tie-breaks, if needed, will be contested on June 18th along with a Closing Ceremony. A complete set of games is available at Chess24 (with embedded YouTube coverage) and at The Week in Chess. Popular Twitch streamer Alexandra Botez is also offering a livestream of each round’s games.