Koneru leapfrogs Zhu, leads at FIDE Women’s Grand Prix

Into the 7th round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at Pune, India, Jiner Zhu held a half point lead at a superb 5/6, half a point ahead of Humpy Koneru at 4.5/6. Those two were paired up in a massive game, which Koneru won to take the lead at 5.5/7. Divya Deshmukh also won to join Zhu in second place, so it will come down to those three in the final two rounds.

A game that started as a Queen’s Indian, it had small ups and downs for the first 20 moves, and then some larger errors by both sides over the next 20 moves, as it played into queen and bishops for White against queen and knights for Black. It had come back to a balance at move 44, but then 44. …Qe7-xb4?? (D) was not a pawn that should have been grabbed.

After 45. Bxe6! Qb1+ 46. Kg2, Black seemed to realize they couldn’t take back on e6, and spent the last 10 moves unsuccessfully trying to complicate things down a piece. The problem is if White’s bishop is captured, 46. …fxe6 (D), then White has forced mate in the absence of Black’s queen, after a queen check on the 7th rank and the bishop coming in to h6.

Deshmukh’s win was a much smoother game. She took an early advantage against Batkhuyag Munguntuul, and it only grew, finishing in a rook endgame where passed a- and h-pawns were too much for her opponent to handle.

You can follow along with the conclusion of the event on Lichess. The final round is on April 23rd. The Grand Prix website has the season-long standings for the two Candidates qualification spots. Koneru needs a tournament win to put real pressure on a couple other contenders, while Zhu would be in excellent position going into the final Grand Prix tournament should she manage a comeback here.

Photo: FIDE