Women's Candidates: Muzychuk sisters win, Goryachkina stays at the top

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/06/2019

Kosteniuk missed several winning chances against Lagno and the game eventually ended up in a draw. It was the only draw of the round. Gunina went all-in against Goryachkina but that was not enough as soon her position was a complete mess which Goryachkina had no trouble cleaning up for a full point and stretch her lead by 2.5 points. Anna Muzychuk seemed to be in an uncomfortable queen less middle game, however she swerved her opponent into blundering an exchange which resulted her in scoring the full point in the endgame. Mariya Muzychuk won against Tan Zhongyi without any difficulty resulting in both Muzychuk sisters win again. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Muzychuk sisters win, Goryachkina increases her lead

Kosteniuk and Lagno share a smile before the match | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Kateryna Lagno after the game said, "It was risky to play this opening". She was talking about her opening choice of playing Modern Defence with the Black pieces against Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Kosteniuk - Kateryna Lagno, Round 9

White has two advanced pawns and one of them is a passed pawn. Black just played 57...f4. What should White do here?

Black has a battery of rooks on third rank, but White should be concerned about his advanced pawns. Find out the best continuation for White here after Black's last move 60...Kc7

Black just played 63...Kb7. Time to play the right move for White as White has a decisive advantage.

Kosteniuk had one last opportunity but due to time trouble she squandered it by playing 66.b6+. Can you find out how she could have still pushed for a win?

Kosteniuk will not be happy considering what she missed | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Kosteniuk and Lagno talk about their tournament situation| Video: FIDE Chess

Gunina went all out against Goryachkina but that did not turn out well for her. They drew both of their matches against each other in the tournament | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Valentina Gunina who herself played Caro-Kann with the Black pieces faced it with White against Aleksandra Goryachkina. Gunina opted for the Two-Knight's variation. It was evident from the get-go that Gunina has come to round 9 with a 'do-or-die' attitude.

Valentina Gunina - Aleksandra Goryachkina, Round 9

Gunina playing 15.b4 is not a good idea. Find out why.

Gunina made a bad decision of playing 17.Kd1 here. What do you think she should have played instead?

It is evident that Gunina tried too hard to push for a win when she played 20.e6

Gunina took one too many risks in round 9 resulting in losing both of her games against Goryachkina in Candidates | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Aleksandra Goryachkina analyzes her game with Elisabeth Paehtz | Video: FIDE Chess

Valentina Gunina talks about the game (Russian audio) | Video: FIDE Chess

Anna would be to get her revenge against Nana. Both of them won a game each against each other in the tournament | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Goryachkina-Mariya ended up in a draw after a prolonged endgame. However, Mariya almost had a half chance which she could have taken.

Nana Dzagnidze - Anna Muzychuk, Round 9

Anna decided to exchange the queens early in the opening although she mentioned later that she did not prepare this opening

In a post game analysis, Anna chimed that Nana miscalculated and played 19.Bd2. What do you think she should have done instead?

Black is winning here completely after 43...Rxc5. However there was a quicker way to win here.

Anna played a perfect endgame to score another victory | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Anna analyzes her game with Evgenij Miroshnichenko | Video: FIDE Chess

Mariya defeated the former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi with ease | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Mariya executed her plan correctly in the Ruy Lopez Archangelsk variation.

Mariya Muzychuk - Tan Zhongyi, Round 9

After 19.Bb5, Tan made the poor choice of playing 19...Ndb8. What should White do now?

What is the right way to recapture here for White?

White is completely winning here, but what should be the winning plan?

Mariya would be definitely happy to have 1.5-0.5 score Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Round 10 will start on Wednesday 12th June 2019 at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Here are the pairings:

Alexandra Kosteniuk — Valentina Gunina

Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina

Anna Muzychuk — Tan Zhongyi

Mariya Muzychuk — Nana Dzagnidze

Watch all games live here from 5:30 p.m. IST

The organizers are FIDE, Russian Chess Federation, Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, and city administration of Kazan. The tournament is sponsored by PJSC PhosAgro and Russian Railways.

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