Alexandra Kosteniuk Wins FIDE Women’s World Cup
Sergey Karjakin has become the first finalist in the Open Tournament.
August 2, the semifinal and final/third-place matches of the FIDE Open and Women’s World Cups, respectively, finished in Krasnaya Polyana. All games opened with 1.e4, upon which two games developed into Ruy Lopez, and the remaining two into the Petroff and French Defenses.
The tournament regulations entitle FIDE World Cup finalists the right to participate in the Candidates Tournament. If the world champion Magnus Carlsen reaches the final, the second ticket into the Candidates Tournament will be contested in the third place match.
Playing black against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Carlsen opted for a sort of Marshall attack by sacrificing a pawn for the initiative. 8.а4 Rb8 should have been to White’s advantage, but but the Polish GM failed to prove it. Carlsen was building up pressure on the kingside, and Duda decided to transpose into the down an exchange endgame, but with two pawns as compensation. Black apparently committed several inaccuracies and ran into certain difficulties. However, Magnus Carlsen fought back in the best possible way in a critical moment and managed to save half a point. Tomorrow the opponents will continue to sort it out in a tie-breaker.
Karjakin vs. Fedoseev saw the Zaitsev system of Ruy Lopez. Black resorted to a rather rare line with 13…d5, but White was the first to sidestep the trodden path. Karjakin's idea might have caught Fedoseev by surprise, because a few moves later White already had a superior position. Karjakin planted a pawn and a knight to the sixth rank and limited Black's position. In an attempt to free up his pieces, Fedoseev opened up the large diagonal and initiated tactical complications. However, it played into White’s hands by giving him a pair of extremely powerful central passers. Black recognized her defeat on move 33 in a hopeless position.
Sergey Karjakin has become the first World Cup finalist and qualified into the Candidates Tournament.
Aleksandra Goryachkina was in a must-win situation as Black against Alexandra Kosteniuk and chose the French defense to level the match score. White played out one of the most solid systems with early pawn trades in the center. Goryachkina performed as sharp and risky as possible: Black's king remained in the center, her pawn structure was compromised, but she got certain counter-chances on the kingside. In her turn, Kosteniuk battled for initiative and did not shy away from complications. Black did her best to confuse the opponent, but Kosteniuk thwarted all threats cold-bloodedly. The opposite-colored bishop ending in part followed the scenario of the Kosteniuk-Gunina game, in which Black stubbornly declined a draw, and White's a- and c-pawns proved unstoppable as a result. The 12th world champion gained an overwhelming advantage and sealed a draw from the position of strength.
Having won 1.5:0.5, Alexandra Kosteniuk has become the World Cup holder.
Tan Zhongyi vs. Anna Muzychuk saw the Petroff Defence. White chose a relatively rare continuation to keep as many pieces on the board as possible and blunt the opponent's light-squared bishop. As a result, White got the so-called bishop pair advantage, while Black arranged his pieces harmoniously and achieved a full-fledged play. The Chinese player gradually took the initiative over and got an edge, but it was not so easy to break down White's defense. The opponents agreed to a draw in the endgame with bishops of the same color. The match goes to a tie-breaker.
The tie-breaker is scheduled on Tuesday, August 3.
