International Master Misses Mate-In-2

Witnessing professional chess players miss checkmates is indeed a rare sight, but that is what happened in the opening round of the European Women’s Chess Championship in Rhodes, Greece. The championship is being contested by 136 female players, including some of the best players in the world, such as IM Teodora Injac (World #22) from Serbia.

Injac started as the 2nd seed of the tournament and was up against a 16-year-old WFM from Georgia. In a manoeuvring Ruy Lopez affair, Injac, being the stronger player, built up an attack on the queenside when this happened; in the following position, it is Black to play. Black has a forced mate in three, starting with Qxa2+, which was found by Injac. However, under time pressure, Injac missed the final blow and went on to lose the game in heartbreaking fashion.

The turn of events shows that even the strongest players can succumb to pressure. Teodora Injac is a strong player, and one would think that 50 seconds should be enough for a player like her to find the said mate-in-2; perhaps it wasn’t her day.

This round 1 upset sets up for an exciting European Women’s Chess Championship in Greece.

Photo credit: Mark Livshitz / FIDE