Tan a full level forward
At first, spherical seven appeared set to supply loads of attracts. Then it appeared as if the sector would possibly shut up, earlier than Tan Zhongyi finally prolonged her result in a full level.
Spherical 7 outcomes
4 wins and three attracts is Tan Zhongyi’s spectacular document at this 12 months’s Cairns Cup. She has not gained each recreation convincingly, however she has persistently been alert when alternatives have arisen.
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Drawing on the expertise of a world champion, Tan Zhongyi (proper) defeated the younger Indian Divya Deshmukh in an thrilling recreation | Picture: Lennart Ootes
Taking part in black towards Divya Deshmukh, the 35-year-old who grew to become ladies’s world champion in 2017 discovered herself clearly worse in a wild place. Deshmukh signalled her combating intentions from the outset with an aggressive Vienna Sport. The plan initially labored and he or she obtained a transparent initiative. However later, regardless of being an trade and two pawns up, she misplaced management of the place.
Within the battle on reverse flanks of the board, Tan’s far-advanced kingside pawns finally prevailed, helped by the unusually secure shelter she created for her king on h5.
A doubly irritating draw for Alice Lee
After Alice Lee’s sturdy begin to the match, calculations had already begun: earlier than spherical seven, she wanted one other 2 factors to safe her first GM norm. It was due to this fact all of the extra irritating that she did not convert a place through which she had been clearly higher for a very long time towards Anna Muzychuk. The draw additionally allowed Tan to revive her one-point lead.
These days, the record of necessities for a gap repertoire is lengthy: being sound and sustainable; not requiring a lot memorisation; providing nice attacking probabilities; making your opponent assume early on and so on… The time of discovering a minimal benefit from the opening has handed, and we’re higher off with a extra sensible strategy – merely understanding the place higher than our opponent does. The Repertoire for White 1.d4 … 2.Bg5! from IM Robert Ris solutions all these necessities!
Free video pattern: Introduction
Free video pattern: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7/d5/c5
Alice Lee was unable to finish Anna Muzychuk’s run of attracts – the Ukrainian GM has drawn all seven of her video games to this point | Picture: Lennart Ootes
In a recreation through which the 16-year-old American took management after the Ukrainian’s inaccurate 29th transfer and made regular progress in a troublesome rook endgame with 5 pawns towards 4, she did not make the most of what ought to have been Muzychuk’s decisive mistake on transfer 88. Her reply 89.Re7 was nonetheless fantastic, however on transfer 90 she gave up virtually all of her benefit, and the sport led to a draw 19 strikes later. Lee now wants 1½ factors from the ultimate two rounds to safe her GM norm.
Tsolakidou suffers her first defeat
Stavroula Tsolakidou nonetheless had possibilities of securing a GM norm as effectively. Nonetheless, the Greek IM misplaced her recreation towards Bibisara Assaubayeva. The Kazakh participant gave her opponent few probabilities. Though she let a big a part of her benefit slip just a few instances, she finally gained after 50 strikes.
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Bibisara Assaubayeva moved into joint second place | Picture: Lennart Ootes
Carissa Yip’s hopes of a GM norm additionally got here to an finish, as did Tsolakidou’s, after her draw towards Vaishali Rameshbabu left her tied for fourth to seventh place. The defending champion would in any case have wanted to complete the Cairns Cup with 3/3 to attain the norm. The analysis within the recreation between Yip and Vaishali remained near equality in keeping with the engine all through, and finally led to a draw.
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Carissa Yip now seems unlikely to retain her title | Picture: Lennart Ootes
The opposite former ladies’s world champion within the area, Alexandra Kosteniuk, has recovered considerably after her dreadful 0/4 begin: she drew for the third recreation in a row. Her recreation towards Humpy Koneru, between the 2 gamers on the backside of the standings, remained balanced all through. The pair have a protracted shared match historical past: they first confronted one another in 2002, however Kosteniuk needed to wait round 20 years earlier than scoring her first victory over Koneru, on the Cairns Cup!
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A draw between two long-time rivals | Picture: Lennart Ootes
A view of the enjoying corridor in Saint Louis | Picture: Lennart Ootes
