India’s grand champion R Vaishali continued her remarkable run by beating Aleksandra Gorjachkina of Russia in the 11th round of the women’s tournament here on Saturday.
With her fourth win of the tournament, Vaishali took her tally to an impressive seven points from 11 matches. For Russia’s Gorjachkina, the loss effectively ended her chances at the tournament, leaving her on five points, two behind the tournament leader.
Vaishali’s win also ensured she extended her lead to a full point over nearest rivals Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and Jiner Zhu of China, who were both held to draws by Kateryna Lagno of Russia and Divya Deshmukh.
Goryachkina played white, surprisingly using the London system in this crucial game, and Vaishali played nonchalantly in the opening to move closer to an even position in the early middle game.
The Russian looked to complicate matters after an early exchange of queens, but Vaishali proved she was far ahead in the calculation on the day, matching Goryachkin move after move and pouncing on a creative idea that involved capturing White’s rook right in the middle of the board.
Vaishali lost only one pawn and a minor piece, and in the resulting position her technique was immaculate to romp home.
It may be recalled that Vaishali had a very slow start in the first four matches followed by a loss to China’s Jiner Zhu, but since the sixth round she has chalked up four wins and two draws, which also means she has peaked at the right time.
In the open section, Vaishali’s younger brother R Praggnanandhaa continued to struggle as he missed a simple tactic to win over Matthias Bluebaum of Germany.
Hikaru Nakamura of the United States drew with Wei Yi of China, both of whom conceded they were out of the race, while Anish Giri of the Netherlands also drew with Andrey Esipenko of Russia.
By almost a mile, tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan battled hard for a tie with pre-tournament favorite Fabian Caruana of the United States, reaching an almost unassailable 8.5 points.
For the chess experts, the tournament is almost over as Javokhir leads Giri by two points with only three rounds remaining.
Results of the 11th round: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (5); Anish Giri Ned (6.5) tied with Andrey Esipenko (Russian, 4); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 5.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 8.5)p Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 5) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 5).
Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, 5) lost to R Vaishali (India, 7); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 5.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr); Zhongyi Tan (China, 4) drew with Bibisara Assuabayev (Kaz, 5.5); Jiner Zhu (Chn, 6) tied with Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 5).
– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
12 Apr 2026 01:27 IST
