World Women's Champs Begins: "I Look Forward to the Sun" [UPDATED]

Good luck to Sabina Foisor and Irina Krush, our two US Chess representatives at the Women's World Championships, which begin on Saturday November 3rd in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Update after round one: both Sabina and Irina drew their first games, with Stefanova narrowly escaping defeat against Sabina. Scroll down to play through them. Top seeds in the event include reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun of China, Humpy Koneru of India, Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine. Both Irina and Sabina arrived safely in Khanty. Krush arrived well in advance to adjust to the time zone, but said she is wearing three layers of clothing to combat the frigid temperatures "I am looking forward to playing and also look forward to seeing the sun again, whenever that may be :)" Sabina arrived in a great mood, as she and other participants were met at the airport with plenty of fanfare. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpnt0ohhWkG/ Sabina plays Grandmaster Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in round one and told CLO:

It's an honor to play former World Champion Stefanova. I am preparing hard and will give it my best! It's also exciting to play in the World Championship for the 3rd time. Hopefully this 3rd time is going to the the charm.

In round one of their matches, both Sabina and Irina drew. Sabina had a great position with lots of chances, and Stefanova narrowly escaped with the draw. Both will play black tomorrow, when a win will propel them into a group of 32, while a loss will mean elimination. A draw means playoff time on Monday morning.

[pgn] [Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"] [Date "2018.11.03"] [White "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"] [Black "Stefanova, Antoaneta"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2264"] [BlackElo "2490"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Bulgaria"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "BUL"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bb4 6. e3 b5 7. Bd2 a5 8. axb5 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 cxb5 10. b3 Bb7 11. bxc4 b4 12. Bb2 Nf6 13. Bd3 Nbd7 14. O-O O-O 15. Re1 Re8 16. h3 Ne4 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Nd2 Bb7 19. f4 Qc7 20. Rf1 a4 21. d5 exd5 22. Rxa4 Rxe3 23. Rxb4 Rd3 24. Rb3 dxc4 25. Rxd3 cxd3 26. Kh2 Ra2 27. Qb3 Qc6 28. Rf3 Qa6 29. Rxd3 Nf8 30. Rg3 g6 31. Qc3 f6 32. f5 Qc6 33. fxg6 hxg6 34. Qb3+ Qd5 35. Ne4 Qxb3 36. Nxf6+ Kf7 37. Rxb3 Ba8 38. Ng4 Nd7 39. Ra3 Rxa3 40. Bxa3 Ke6 41. Bb2 Nc5 42. Ne5 Be4 43. g4 Nd3 44. Nxd3 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"] [Date "2018.11.03"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Gaponenko, Inna"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2434"] [BlackElo "2420"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O exd4 8. Nxd4 Re8 9. f3 Nc6 10. Be3 Nh5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Qd2 f5 13. Rae1 f4 14. Bxf4 Nxf4 15. Qxf4 Bd4+ 16. Kh1 Rb8 17. Qd2 Qf6 18. Rd1 Be5 19. f4 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Rxe4 21. c5 d5 22. Bd3 Ra4 23. Rde1 Bf5 24. Bxf5 gxf5 25. Re5 Re4 26. Re1 Qf8 27. h3 Re8 28. R1xe4 dxe4 29. Qd7 Rxe5 30. fxe5 e3 31. e6 e2 32. Qd2 Qf6 33. Qxe2 Kf8 34. Qd3 Qxe6 35. Qd8+ Kf7 36. Qxc7+ Kf6 37. Qd8+ Kf7 38. Qb8 Qxa2 39. Qc7+ Kf6 40. Qd8+ Kf7 41. Qh8 Kg6 42. Qe8+ Kf6 43. Qh8+ Kg6 44. Qe8+ Kf6 45. Qh8+ 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Krush, pictured above with Sabina Foisor at the Batumi Olympiad, had a great Olympic result, earning the silver medal for her performance on board two. In the Women's World Championship, Irina is seed #32, meaning she plays seed #33, IM Inna Gaponenko. When I asked Irina about her best games at the Olympiad, she picked out two: her victory over GM Harika Dronavalli, which she called "technically speaking the cleanest (win.)"

 

[pgn] [Event "Chess Olympiad (Women)"] [Site "Batumi GEO"] [Date "2018.09.30"] [White "Irina Krush"] [Black "Dronavalli Harika"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2423"] [BlackElo "2500"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2018.09.24"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bh4 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Qc2 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Be2 Bg4 14. O-O Rac8 15. Nd4 Ne6 16. Qd2 Bxe2 17. Nxe2 Rfd8 18. Rac1 Rc4 19. Rfd1 Qg5 20. Rc3 Rxc3 21. Qxc3 Qg4 22. Qd2 Qc4 23. a3 Qb3 24. h3 a6 25. Qc1 Rd6 26. Rd2 Rd8 27. Nd4 Qb6 28. Qc3 Qc7 29. Qxc7 Nxc7 30. Rc2 Rd7 31. Kf1 Kf8 32. Ke2 g6 33. Nb3 Ne6 34. Nc5 Nxc5 35. Rxc5 Ke7 36. Kd3 h5 37. h4 Ke6 38. Kd4 b6 39. Rc6+ Rd6 40. Rc7 a5 41. b4 axb4 42. axb4 Rd8 43. b5 Rd6 44. Rb7 Kf6 45. f3 Ke6 46. g4 Kf6 47. g5+ Ke6 48. f4 Kf5 49. Rxf7+ Kg4 50. Rf6 Rd8 51. Rxg6 Kxh4 52. Rxb6 Kg4 53. Rh6 h4 54. b6 h3 55. b7 Rb8 56. Rh7 Kf5 57. Kxd5 1-0 [/pgn]

She also pinpointed her win over Normin-Erdene of Mongolia as a thriller . "I made a poor move or two before time control and after move 40, thought I was losing. But by sacking two pawns I got back into the game. Was definitely a really close fight, and the game had some interesting variations that didn't appear."

[pgn] [Event "Chess Olympiad (Women)"] [Site "Batumi GEO"] [Date "2018.09.28"] [White "Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel"] [Black "Irina Krush"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B41"] [WhiteElo "2377"] [BlackElo "2423"] [PlyCount "149"] [EventDate "2018.09.24"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. a3 b6 8. Be3 Bb7 9. f3 d6 10. Rc1 Be7 11. b4 O-O 12. Be2 Nbd7 13. O-O Rfc8 14. Qd2 Rab8 15. Rc2 Ne5 16. Na4 Ba8 17. Rfc1 Qd7 18. Nb2 Qe8 19. Nb3 h6 20. Qe1 Qd8 21. Kh1 Nfd7 22. a4 a5 23. c5 bxc5 24. b5 Qf8 25. Nxa5 f5 26. exf5 Qxf5 27. Nac4 Nxc4 28. Rxc4 d5 29. R4c2 c4 30. Qg3 Kh8 31. f4 Rf8 32. Bd4 Bf6 33. Bg4 Qe4 34. Ba7 Rbe8 35. Re2 Qg6 36. a5 Bd8 37. a6 Bc7 38. Bh3 Qf6 39. Rf1 Bxf4 40. Qe1 Qg6 41. Bd4 c3 42. Bxc3 d4 43. Bxd4 Qh5 44. Kg1 Qxb5 45. a7 e5 46. Bf2 Nc5 47. Bg3 Ne4 48. Bxf4 exf4 49. Bg4 Qc5+ 50. Kh1 Qxa7 51. Nd3 g5 52. Qb4 Nf6 53. Rxe8 Rxe8 54. Qc3 Qg7 55. Bf5 Nd5 56. Qxg7+ Kxg7 57. Ra1 Ne3 58. Bd7 Bxg2+ 59. Kg1 Re7 60. Nc5 Bd5 61. Kf2 Bf7 62. h3 Re5 63. Rc1 Rd5 64. Bc6 Rd2+ 65. Kg1 Rc2 66. Rxc2 Nxc2 67. Kf2 Kf6 68. Bd7 Ke5 69. Nd3+ Kd6 70. Bg4 Bg6 71. Nc1 Ne3 72. Be2 Bf5 73. h4 g4 74. Ba6 g3+ 75. Ke1 0-1 [/pgn]

Get in the spirit to root on #TeamUSA in Khanty-Mansiysk. You can follow the games live on the official website, or in post-game coverage. Today in Chess, World Championship edition, hosted by Jennifer Shahade of US Chess, featuring Grandmasters Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan will cover Women's World Championship games. Find the show daily on https://uschesschamps.com/ and play it on demand at the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube channel. Also look for a match one report by Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi on CLO, with comments from Sabina Foisor.