Women’s Candidates R7: Vaishali climbs to sole second place

Muzychuk tops the standings

Anna Muzychuk remains the sole leader of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, as she went into the rest day with a score of 4½/7. While the open section has seen a notably higher leading score at the halfway stage, the women’s event has been far more tightly contested, with Muzychuk’s plus-two tally – built on five draws and victories over Kateryna Lagno and Zhu Jiner – proving sufficient to top the standings at halftime.

In round seven, Muzychuk drew her game with Bibisara Assaubayeva in 26 moves in what was the quietest encounter of the day. It was one of three drawn games on Sunday, although the remaining two were considerably more complex.

Aleksandra Goryachkina pressed for much of her game against Zhu Jiner, attempting to make something of a slight positional edge. The struggle extended to 70 moves, with Goryachkina probing persistently. Zhu defended accurately and held the balance, though.

Anna Muzychuk v. Bibisara Assaubayeva | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Aleksandra Goryachkina v. Zhu Jiner | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

An even more demanding contest unfolded in the game between Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno, which became the longest game of the tournament so far. The players battled for 135 moves in a prolonged endgame struggle.

Deshmukh obtained a promising position in the early middlegame, gaining a pawn and getting realistic winning chances.

Lagno, however, defended with determination, gradually simplifying the position into a rook ending with three pawns against two.

Although the resulting position was objectively drawn, Deshmukh continued to press until the very end. The tension was highlighted when Lagno incorrectly claimed a draw by triple repetition on move 117 – the game ultimately continued before concluding peacefully.

This video course includes GM Anish Giri’s deep insights and IM Sagar Shah’s pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Anish Giri takes an interest on the Divya Deshmukh versus Kateryna Lagno lengthy battle | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Divya Deshmukh | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

The only decisive result of the round came in the game between Vaishali Rameshbabu and Tan Zhongyi. Playing black, Tan had the upper hand for much of the game and at one point reached a clearly superior position.

Even after letting a significant portion of her advantage slip, she still retained a material edge of a pawn in a rook-and-bishop endgame. However, a final mistake proved decisive, as she inexplicably blundered into a straightforward two-move tactical sequence that allowed Vaishali to secure the win.

The result lifted Vaishali to sole second place on 4/7, after a first half in which she recorded two wins and one loss.

This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.

Tan Zhongyi played the Pirc Defence against Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

Round 7 results

Standings after round 7

All games