Ju Wenjun and Lagno to Play for Women's Crown

As the World Championship gets tenser with each draw, the Women's World Championship in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia is full of knockout blows. In the semi-finals, Kateryna Lagno won the rapid playoff against Mariya Muzychuk with a perfect 2-0.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"] [Date "2018.11.17"] [White "Lagno, Kateryna"] [Black "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2556"] [BlackElo "2545"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Bb3 d5 9. dxe5 Be6 10. c3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd3 14. Re3 Nxc1 15. Rxc1 a5 16. Rec3 Rc8 17. Nf3 a4 18. Bc2 Bb4 19. Rc6 Bd7 20. Qd3 g6 21. Qxb5 Bxc6 22. Qxc6 a3 23. bxa3 Bxa3 24. Rb1 Rb8 25. Rxb8 Qxb8 26. Bb3 Qb6 27. Qxd5 c5 28. h4 cxd4 29. Qxd4 Qxd4 30. Nxd4 Rc8 31. Nc2 Bc5 32. e6 f5 33. Kf1 Kg7 34. Ke2 Kf6 35. Ne1 Rd8 36. Nd3 Rxd3 37. Kxd3 Bxf2 38. h5 gxh5 39. a4 Be1 40. Bd5 h4 41. Ke2 Ba5 42. Bb3 Bb4 43. Ke3 h6 44. Kd4 Be1 45. Kd5 Bb4 46. Bd1 h3 47. gxh3 f4 48. Bg4 Ke7 49. Ke5 Bd2 50. Kf5 Kf8 51. h4 Ke7 52. h5 f3 53. Bxf3 Bc3 54. Bg4 Bb4 55. Ke5 Kd8 56. Kd5 Kc7 57. a5 Kb7 58. Be2 Kc7 59. a6 Be7 60. Ke5 Bc5 61. Kf6 Kd8 62. Kf7 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"] [Date "2018.11.17"] [White "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Black "Lagno, Kateryna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2545"] [BlackElo "2556"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Qe7 8. Nbd2 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 g5 11. Bg3 O-O-O 12. Nc4 Nd7 13. Qf5 f6 14. h4 b5 15. Nd2 Kb7 16. O-O-O a5 17. Nf3 Nb6 18. Nh2 Na4 19. hxg5 Bd4 20. Kd2 Qb4+ 21. Ke2 Qxb2 22. gxf6 Nc3+ 23. Kf3 Nxd1 24. Ng4 Qxc2 25. Nxe5 Bxe5 26. Qxe5 Rxd3+ 27. Kg4 Nxf2+ 28. Kf5 Rxg3 0-1 [/pgn]

Reigning Champ Ju Wenjun of China and Kateryna Lagno of Russia will play a four-game match for the Women's World Championship title from Nov 19-23 . The Chinese World Champ, also board one for the gold Olympic team, has won every match in the two-game classical portion, avoiding the grueling rapid tiebreaks. She can therefore be considered a favorite, despite only having a small rating edge.