Down to Sweet Sixteen in Khanty-Mansiysk

The Women's World Championship is down to its sweet sixteen in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. This news is not as sweet for American fans, as we no longer have a horse in the race- Grandmaster Irina Krush and 2017 US Women's Champion Sabina Foisor have both been eliminated. Both can hold their heads high, as Sabina put on a fierce fight against the higher-rated Antoaneta Stefanova. Irina Krush, the #32 seed, beat the #33 seed, IM Inna Gaponenko in a dominant playoff performance. Krush then played a more rested reigning World Champion, Ju Wenjun in round two, and lost 1.5-0.5. Elshan annotated Krush's second round draw, which eliminated her from the event.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"]
[Date "2018.11.07"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Krush, Irina"]
[Black "Ju, Wenjun"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2434"]
[BlackElo "2568"]
[Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi "]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "China"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]

1. Nf3 {After losing the first game, Irina came to this game with a hope to equalize
the match. She chose the right strategy: She opted for a long battle rather than a
sharp but forcing line. She wanted a chance to gradually grind
down her opponent. Let us see how this game went....} d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4.
O-O Nd7 5. d3 Ngf6 {A solid opening choice by both sides. There is not much
excitement here, but just wait!} 6. Nbd2 e5 7. h3 Bxf3 (7... Bh5 {I consider
two bishops a very important factor in this opening but Ju Wenjun has a
different opinion.}) 8. Nxf3 Bc5 9. a3 a5 10. Rb1 a4 11. Nxe5 $1 {Now the
position transposes to a form of reversed Pirc when white is a number of tempi
up and has a pair of bishop!} Nxe5 12. d4 Bd6 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. c4 $1 {
Naturally! two bishops!} dxc4 15. Qc2 O-O 16. Qxc4 Re8 17. b3 $1 {The more
open the merrier!} axb3 18. Rxb3 Qe7 19. Be3 (19. a4 {is more accurate}) 19...
Rac8 (19... Rxa3 20. Bc5 Qxc5 21. Qxc5 Rxb3 {is an option that maintains the
material equality but hard to play over the board as Black's rooks do not have
good coordination.}) (19... Ra6 20. a4 Rea8 21. Rd1 Rxa4 22. Rxb7 $1 {leads to
something similar to the game.}) 20. Rc1 Bd6 21. a4 Rc7 {Irina's superb play
earned her the much needed advantage as early as move 22. It is time to exert
pressure on b7 and obtain a completely winning position. Somehow from here on,
Irina let go of b7 and focuses on Black's pieces.} 22. Bb6 Rd7 23. Re3 Qf8 24.
Rd3 Qe7 25. Rcd1 Bb8 26. e3 Rxd3 27. Qxd3 Bc7 28. Qb3 Bxb6 29. Qxb6 Rc8 {
white is still better but the pair of bishop advantage is gone and most of
White's advantage has gone with it as well.} 30. a5 h6 31. Rb1 Rc7 32. Qa7 $6 {
This lets go of the last hope.} (32. Kh2 h5 33. Rc1 Qd6 34. Rc4 Nd7 35. Qa7 g6
36. a6 bxa6 37. Qxa6 Ne5 38. Rd4 Qe7 39. Re4 {would have maintained the
pressure.}) 32... g6 33. Qb8+ Kg7 34. Ra1 Qe5 35. Ra4 Re7 36. Qxe5 Rxe5 37. a6
bxa6 38. Rxa6 c5 {The c-pawn cannot be won. Despite white's symbolic
advantage thanks to the bishop and rook combination, a draw is an achievable
goal for Black.} 39. Rc6 g5 40. Kf1 h5 41. Ke1 g4 42. h4 Rf5 43. Rc7 Re5 44.
Bb7 Ne8 45. Rc6 Re7 46. Rb6 Re6 47. Rb1 Nd6 48. Bd5 Re5 49. Bg2 Kf6 50. Ke2 c4
51. Ra1 Rb5 52. Ra6 Ke6 53. Rc6 Rb2+ 54. Ke1 Rb1+ 55. Ke2 Rb2+ 56. Ke1 Rb1+ 57.
Ke2 Rb2+ {A valiant endeavor by Irina, I am sure she would have done better
had this match been replayed. She created a lot of chances which
speak to her strength and ability.} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Find annotations to earlier games in reports by Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi after round one and after round two, game one.

GM Ju Wenjun, Find more photos on https://ugra2018.fide.com/

Among the players remaining: Former Champs Stefanova, Ju Wenjun, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya won her spot into the sweet sixteen with a tiebreak victory over Ekaterina Atalik.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.11.08"]
[Round "12.3"]
[White "Muzychuk, Mariya"]
[Black "Atalik, Ekaterina"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2545"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi "]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p5R/pP2kp2/P1n1p3/8/r4P2/4NKP1/8 w - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "Turkey"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "TUR"]

{[#]} 37. Ng3 {Ekaterina Atalik had Mariya Muzychuk over the ropes for the
second time and now she needed to demonstrate some strong technical moves but
things fizzled out faster than expected.} Rxa5 38. Ne4 $1 {forces Black into a
passive position.} Nd7 39. g4 Rb5 (39... Rd5 40. Rh8 {would have kept the game
going.}) 40. g5 $1 {This draws the game on spot.} fxg5 41. Nxg5+ Kd6 42. Ne4+
Ke6 43. Rh6+ Ke7 44. Rh7+ Ke6 45. Rh6+ Ke7 46. Rh7+ {A big lesson for amateur
players, when in doubt and low on material, play active!} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Stefanova also won her match in rapid tiebreak.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"]
[Date "2018.11.08"]
[White "Stefanova, Antoaneta"]
[Black "Saduakassova, Dinara"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2490"]
[BlackElo "2474"]
[Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi "]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"]
[BlackTeam "Kazakhstan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "KAZ"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Bd3 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 e5
9. d5 Nbd7 10. Nc3 a5 11. a3 Nh5 12. Rb1 Nc5 13. Bc2 Bc8 14. b4 axb4 15. axb4
Na6 16. Bg5 Qe8 17. Ba4 Bd7 18. Bxd7 Qxd7 19. Be3 Qe7 20. Nd2 Nf4 21. Nf1 Qd7
22. Ng3 h5 23. Nge2 Qg4 24. Nxf4 exf4 25. f3 Qg5 26. Bd4 Be5 27. Nb5 Qh4 28.
Re2 Rac8 29. Ra2 Nb8 30. Ra7 Bxd4+ 31. Qxd4 c5 32. Qf2 Qd8 33. Qd2 cxb4 34.
Rxb4 g5 35. h4 Nd7 36. Nxd6 Rc7 37. Rxc7 Qxc7 38. Nf5 Qc5+ 39. Kh2 Ne5 40. hxg5
Ra8 41. Qd4 Qxb4 42. Qxe5 Qf8 {Stefanova has mate in 15 in this position!
White is completely dominant, since her passed pawns are unstoppable, the
knight on f5 is superb and black's queen is 'glued' to f8. Stefanova does
the right thing in this position, which is to qualify to the next round. She
gives perpetual check to seal the deal and leave the finding the mate to us!
} 43. Nh6+ (43. Qf6 Ra7 (43... Rd8 44. Nh6+ Kh7 45. Nxf7) 44. Nh6+ Kh7 45. g6+
$1 {As simple as that!}) 43... Kh7 44. Qf5+ Kg7 45. Qf6+ Kh7 46. Qf5+ Kg7 47.
Qf6+ Kh7 48. Qf5+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Stefanova will play Anna Muzychuk in a titanic round three battle. Anna Muzychuk is the #3 rated female player in the World, and one of the best known as well. She recently gave a TED Talk on life-changing decisions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POKCeZ71VUY 18-year-old IM Zhansaya Abdumalik defeated GM Zhao Xue in rapid playoffs to advance to round three. She'll play IM Jolanta Zawadzka of Poland, who upset GM Humpy Koneru in round two. Iranian Mobina Alinasab, also 18, is so far the sensation of the event. Ranked 55th going into the event, she scored two upsets in a row, over IM Elisabeth Paehtz and GM Monika Socko and plays Mariya Muzychuk in round three.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"]
[Date "2018.11.06"]
[White "Socko, Monika"]
[Black "Alinasab, Mobina"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D29"]
[WhiteElo "2463"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "Iran"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IRI"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bxc4 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. O-O e6 8. a4
b4 9. Nbd2 Nbd7 10. Qe2 c5 11. Rd1 Be7 12. e4 cxd4 13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Qb8 15.
Ng3 d3 16. Qe1 O-O 17. Bc4 Nc5 18. Bxd3 Nxd3 19. Rxd3 Rc8 20. Ne4 a5 21. Bg5
Bf8 22. Rc1 h6 23. Bd2 Ba6 24. Rd4 Qb6 25. g4 Rxc1 26. Bxc1 Be7 27. g5 h5 28.
Ng3 g6 29. Ne4 Rc8 30. Rd1 Bb7 31. h3 Rc2 32. Rd2 Qc7 33. Rxc2 Qxc2 34. Qd2
Qxe4 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"]
[Date "2018.11.07"]
[White "Alinasab, Mobina"]
[Black "Socko, Monika"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B09"]
[WhiteElo "2236"]
[BlackElo "2463"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Iran"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IRI"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 dxe5 7. fxe5 Nd5 8.
Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Be2 c5 10. c4 Qe4 11. dxc5 Nc6 12. Qd5 Qg4 13. Ng5 Qd4 14. Nf3 Qg4
15. Ng5 Qf5 16. Rf1 e6 17. Qe4 Qxe5 18. Qxe5 Bxe5 19. Ne4 f5 20. Nd6 Bxh2 21.
Bg5 Bg3+ 22. Kd2 Be5 23. Rab1 Bf6 24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25. Bf3 Bd7 26. b4 Rb8 27. b5
Na5 28. Kc3 e5 29. Rbd1 Be6 30. Kb4 b6 31. c6 Kg7 32. Bd5 Bd7 33. c5 bxc5+ 34.
Kxc5 Rb6 35. cxd7 Rfxd6 36. Ba8 Rxd1 37. Rxd1 1-0[/pgn]