Goryachkina Wins 5th In A Row, Tan Zhongyi Keeps Up Chase
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina brushed aside IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul to score a fifth win in a row in the 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix, but her lead remained at one point as IM Nurgyul Salimova's attack backfired against GM Tan Zhongyi. The other games were drawn, with IM Bibisara Assaubayeva spoiling a winning position against IM Divya Deshmukh.
Round eight will start on Thursday, November 7, at 5 a.m. ET / 11:00 CET / 3:30 p.m. IST.
Round 7 Results
Goryachkina and Tan Zhongyi are now effectively in a two-horse race to win the Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix.
Standings After Round 7
Munguntuul is yet to make a draw in Shymkent and has lost all four games she's played with the white pieces. Goryachkina went into their game on a four-game winning streak and duly made it five, as she cut through her opponent's defenses in a Sveshnikov Sicilian like a hot knife through butter.
Munguntuul's 22.Qa1?, going after a queenside pawn, was the first new move and a mistake, while 24.Qa4? lost on the spot.
Goryachkina, one of just six women ever to have been rated over 2600, has gained almost 20 rating points and not just overtaken but opened a gulf to GM Koneru Humpy, while she can catch fourth-placed Lei TIngjie if she wins again.
It's not all about Goryachkina, however, since former World Champion and current World Championship Challenger Tan is also building on what's already a career-high rating and could overtake the current World Champion Ju Wenjun before the Shymkent Grand Prix is over.
Tan also started fast with the black pieces, against Salimova, but just when White seemed to have got right back in the game the 21-year-old Bulgarian decided to go all-out for the attack with 18.Nd6+?—it backfired badly, as Tan accepted all the pawns offered, consolidated her position, then trapped Salimova's queen to clinch victory.
IM Stavroula Tsolakidou couldn't keep pressure on the leaders but had no reason to complain about a well-played draw against GM Kateryna Lagno, while the 14-move draw in GM Elisabeth Paehtz vs. Humpy spoke of both players wanting a disappointing event to be over.
The one draw that could have ended decisively saw Divya get into trouble against Assaubayeva. She admitted, "For me, I think it was just a lucky game, because the opening was a disaster from my side and I was defending the entire game, trying to somehow hold." Assaubayeva cheerfully agreed in their post-game joint interview: "For me the opening was very good and I have a dream position from the opening!"
The decisive moment came when Divya was down to 1.5 minutes to Assaubayeva's seven and played 33...Kf8. Assaubayeva had a winning advantage, but she squandered it with one careless move as the game hurtled toward a draw.
Thursday's penultimate round will be huge for the overall outcome of the tournament, with Goryachkina facing Humpy with White, while Tan also has White, against Assaubayeva.
Round 8 Pairings
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on FIDE's YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Irine Sukandar and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko.
The 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the second of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs October 30-November 8 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Players have 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20 players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.
Previous Coverage:
- Round 6: Goryachkina Makes It 4-In-A-Row; Lagno, Tan, Stavroula Also Win
- Round 5: Goryachkina's Hat Trick Gives Her Sole Lead; Divya Scores 1st Win
- Round 4: Humpy, Goryachkina Win Again To Catch Tan Zhongyi In Lead
- Round 3: Tan Zhongyi Takes Sole Lead; Humpy, Goryachkina Also Grab Wins
- Round 2: 17-Move Disaster For Paehtz As Tan Survives Scare Vs. Humpy
- Round 1: Tan, Assaubayeva, Tsolakidou Win As 2nd Women's Grand Prix Begins
- Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
- FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
