Astana GP Round 3: Vaishali draws with Assaubayeva
IM Vaishali R had an interesting draw with IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) in the third round of FIDE Astana Grand Prix 2022. The former sacrificed her knight for the reigning World Blitz Women 2021 champion's pawn. Soon the game ended in a draw as the position did not yield a substantial advantage to either player. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina emerged as sole leader after she won a 97-move long battle against IM Alina Kashlinskaya (POL). Vaishali will face the former Women's World champion, GM Tan Zhongyi in round 4 which starts today at 2:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman
50% decisive games
The third round had three decisive games. Apart from Goryachkina, GM Kateryna Lagno and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk were the other two victors against IM Polina Shuvalova and GM Tan Zhongyi.
Bibisara - Vaishali: 0.5-0.5
IM Vaishali R (2449) made an interesting knight sacrifice for a pawn in the endgame against IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2443).
Although computer recommends 25...Nxd2 to be fine for Black, a human can definitely appreciate 25...bxa3. 26.fxe5 a2 27.Ra1 Nxb2 28.Bxb2 Rxb2 29.Nc5 Rc2 and the game ended in a draw in another seven moves.
Replay the live stream
Replay all Round 3 games
Round 3 Results
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
1 | 2 | 2547 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | 1 - 0 | IM | Shuvalova Polina | 2510 | 12 | |||
2 | 3 | 2491 | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 0 - 1 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2579 | 1 | |||
3 | 4 | 2443 | IM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | ½ - ½ | IM | Vaishali R | 2449 | 11 | |||
4 | 5 | 2525 | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 0 - 1 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2521 | 10 | |||
5 | 6 | 2358 | WGM | Wagner Dinara | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | 2503 | 9 | |||
6 | 7 | 2477 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | ½ - ½ | WGM | Zhu Jiner | 2464 | 8 |
Round 4 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
1 | 12 | 2510 | IM | Shuvalova Polina | WGM | Zhu Jiner | 2464 | 8 | ||||
2 | 9 | 2503 | GM | Abdumalik Zhansaya | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2477 | 7 | ||||
3 | 10 | 2521 | GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | WGM | Wagner Dinara | 2358 | 6 | ||||
4 | 11 | 2449 | IM | Vaishali R | GM | Tan Zhongyi | 2525 | 5 | ||||
5 | 1 | 2579 | GM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | IM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2443 | 4 | ||||
6 | 2 | 2547 | GM | Lagno Kateryna | IM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 2491 | 3 |