Khanty GP, Rd 8: Girya defeats Muzychuk

Olga Girya confirmed her climb into the women’s world elite with a fine victory against Anna Muzychuk. That game saw her leapfrog her opponent into sole second place in the Women’s Grand Prix, a point behind Hou Yifan. 

by IM David Martínez

While the World Champion fell short of winning a slightly better ending against her compatriot Zhao Xue, the young Russian Olga Girya’s rise continued as she beat Anna Muzychuk in a game that demonstrated exceptional positional understanding. 

The manoeuvres Olga employed to seal her win were very instructive, as we explain below:

The white pieces are better placed but how can you exploit that in concrete terms? By creating threats that at the same time provoke weaknesses. Girya starts to implement a very common plan in queen's pawn positions.

14. ♗b1⁉ With the idea of Qc2, aiming for h7.

14... ♘f6? Muzychuk commits the error of "accepting she's worse". In actual fact there was a single line that would have equalised, although the machine takes a while to show it and I don't believe many players would have been capable of finding it.

14... e5! A natural reaction in the centre which seems bad due to 15. d5 , which is possible because the c7-bishop is hanging, but... 15... ♘b6 16. ♕c2 Threatening Nf6+ and mate on h7. 16... ♘xd5 17. ♖xd5 Muzychuk no doubt stopped calculating here and missed the zwischenzug 17... f5! which manages to stop the threat and hit the knight, evening things up. Difficult, isn't it!

15. ♘xf6+ ♕xf6 16. ♕c2 g6 Each pawn advance, particularly in front of the king, leaves some squares undefended and potentially weak. In this case we have a fianchetto without a bishop. Girya realises that and heads for the f6-square.

17. e4! ♕e7 18. e5 ♗d7 19. ♘d2! With very clear aims!

19... f5 The only way to stop the knight getting to f6, but this creates new weaknesses.

20. exf6 ♖xf6 21. ♘e4 ♖f5 22. ♘c5 Both e6 and g6 are very weak. Muzychuk tries to alleviate the pressure but creates another weakness that will soon be decisive.

22... b6 23. ♘xd7 ♕xd7 24. ♕c3! The start of a new manoeuvre.

24... ♖f6 25. ♗e4 The white pieces coordinate wonderfully.

25... ♖c8 Defending the pawn indirectly due to the potential check on h2.

26. g3 ♗d8 27. ♖c1 ♗e7 28. ♗xc6 Winning a pawn and later the game.

1-0

Anna Muzychuk was unable to thwart her inspired opponent | photo: official website

Hou Yifan’s draw was enough to restore her lead to a full point | photo: official website

The other two decisive games of the day could both have had the opposite result, as we explain below:

Kosintseva is a pawn down but her c3-pawn is very dangerous, she has better heavy pieces and her king is more secure. However...

47... c2? This isn't yet the losing move, but it gives up the advantage and is also a step in the wrong direction.

47... ♖f5! was the key move, defending f7 and attacking f2. 48. ♔g1 (48. f4 would be met by 48... g5! 49. fxg5 ♗e5+ 50. ♔g1 c2 winning.) 48... c2 and the pawn is a big thorn in White's side.

48. ♘d4 ♖b1? The culmination of the tragedy. Kosintseva has missed the temporary piece sacrifice that will cost her the game.

49. ♖xc2! ♗xd4 50. ♕xf7+ ♗g7 51. ♖c7 and there's no way to defend the g7-bishop...

51... ♕d6+ 52. f4 ♕xc7 53. ♕xc7 ♖a1 54. ♕c4

1-0

After a good game Kosintseva threw away the point due to an error of calculation | photo: official website

Muminova, with White, has Dzagnidze on the ropes. If she’d continued with 31.Rag1 Rf7 32.Bh6 and then Bg7+ it’s possible Dzagnidze would soon have thrown in the towel. However, she went for 31.Rh6 and after 31…Rf7 the white attack fizzled out and the Georgian player instead managed to win. 

Muminova is playing a fine tournament, but it could have gone even better if she’d been a little sharper in the key moments | photo: official website

After eight of eleven rounds the standings look as follows:

The players will enjoy a rest day on Friday to gather their strength before Saturday’s Round 9 features a possible tournament decider: Hou Yifan - Olga Girya.

The day’s commentary can be replayed below:

See also:

• Round 7: A great day's play
• Round 6: Surprising errors
• Round 5: The new Hou Yifan?
• Round 4: Muzychuk closes the gap
• Round 3: The Hou Yifan show goes on
• Round 2: Hou Yifan makes it look easy
• Round 1: What a start!
• Tournament website
• Live games