Within the battle of Ladies’s World Champions, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk prevailed over GM Antoaneta Stefanova within the second spherical of 16 match of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Ladies’s Velocity Chess Championship on Monday. Whereas each opponents impressed on the board, Kosteniuk got here by way of in a majority of the time scrambles, ending the match with a five-point lead.
The third spherical of 16 match, GM Kateryna Lagno vs. WGM Vantika Agrawal, begins on Friday, June 24, at 5 a.m. Pacific / 14:00 Central European.
Blitz 5|1: Kosteniuk 5-3 Stefanova
Kosteniuk claimed the primary victory, making a comeback regardless of being down a pawn within the ending.
Stefanova instantly struck again within the second recreation, unexpectedly trapping Kosteniuk’s light-squared bishop within the early middlegame.
Stefanova adopted it up with one other victory, taking on the lead.
Within the subsequent recreation, Stefanova carrying away the lead when Kosteniuk fought again. Down three pawns in a rook ending, Kosteniuk performed actively to carry a shocking draw and start a comeback streak.
In recreation 5, Kosteniuk evened the match rating with a Greek Reward sacrifice victory.
With the momentum in her favor, Kosteniuk received a 3rd recreation in a row, gaining the lead and shortly growing it.
Within the final recreation of the phase, Stefanova was near narrowing Kosteniuk’s lead again to 1 level in a profitable endgame however neglected the ending concept. Can you change her benefit into victory?
The gamers went on to attract, leaving Kosteniuk with a two-point lead getting into the subsequent phase.
Blitz 3|1: Kosteniuk 6.5-2.5 Stefanova
Kosteniuk kicked off the three-minute blitz with a compelling attacking setup however hesitated on the checkmating sequence. Are you able to comply with the assault by way of to the end?
Kosteniuk went on to win within the time scramble anyway, regardless of being down a pawn within the rook ending. This turned a pattern of the match. As commentator WGM Jennifer Shahade summed up: “When issues get chaotic, they have an inclination to work out for Kosteniuk.”
When issues get chaotic, they have an inclination to work out for Kosteniuk.
-Shahade
Within the subsequent recreation, Kosteniuk did efficiently capitalize on her attacking play, looking down Stefanova’s king by way of the middle and kingside.
In recreation 4, Stefanova received a fast recreation with a tactic within the opening.
Recreation six confirmed what Stefanova’s able to at her finest in velocity chess, gaining over a two-minute lead on the clock, urgent a greater place, and discovering a intelligent profitable tactic when low on time.
Regardless of Stefanova’s well-played victories, more often than not scramble video games went to Kosteniuk. This included the final recreation of the phase the place Stefanova made a comeback on the board however ran out of time.
Kosteniuk closed out the blitz growing her result in six factors.
Bullet 1|1: Kosteniuk 4-5 Stefanova
The bullet started with the identical pattern as the sooner segments. Stefanova obtained nice profitable possibilities by way of place however ended up dropping on the clock.
In recreation two, Stefanova appeared to all of the sudden adapt to the time management, gaining each a time and materials benefit and taking part in nearly immediately every transfer to transform them right into a victory.
Regardless of being down a number of factors, Stefanova confirmed resilience and velocity within the bullet phase, scoring higher within the shortest time management.
Kosteniuk sealed the general match with a tactical victory, regaining her four-point lead with time left on the match clock for simply three video games.
All through the match, Kosteniuk displayed unimaginable preventing spirit and readability in time scrambles, profitable when she had benefits and gaining a lot of victories from worse positions.
In her interview, Kosteniuk shared her ideas on bullet vs. blitz: “Nicely, in bullet, you simply make strikes. You do not have time to calculate virtually in any respect… I simply do not think about bullet to be chess. It is simply purely intuitive expertise that you’re demonstrating.”
All Video games – Spherical of 16
Ladies’s Velocity Chess Championship Bracket
The FIDE Chess.com 2022 Ladies’s Velocity Chess Championship is an internet occasion the place titled ladies gamers will play a collection of blitz and bullet matches for a share of the $70,000 prize fund. The qualifiers for the occasion occurred on Might 24-27, with the principle occasion beginning on June 13 and ending on July 21.
Earlier Coverage
