Abdumalik Shines In Gibraltar; Lagno, Koneru Reach Candidates

IM Zhansaya Abdumalik played the tournament of her life in Gibraltar. The Kazakh chess player won the Women’s Grand Prix with a round to spare, earned 15,000 euros, and became a full-fledged grandmaster in the process.

The other “winners” of the event were GMs Kateryna Lagno and Humpy Koneru. Lagno tied for fourth place, which was enough to qualify for the 2022 Women’s Candidates. Koneru, who couldn’t play in Gibraltar, scored enough GP points in the two legs that she did play in to reach the Candidates as well.

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You can find, play through, and download all games of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix on our Events page.

Abdumalik finished on a superb and undefeated 8.5/11 score, 1.5 points ahead of runner-up GM Mariya Muzychuk who was still tied with Abdumalik on the rest day. Another surprisingly strong result was scored by 20-year-old IM Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, who scored plus two and edged out Lagno on tiebreak, one of the players she had beaten.

Gibraltar Women GP | Final Standings

#	Fed	Name	Rtg	Perf	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	Pts	SB
1		Zhansaya Abdumalik	2472	2701		½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	½	8.5/11
2		Mariya Muzychuk	2544	2579	½		1	½	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	7.0/11
3		Gunay Mammadzada	2443	2554	½	0		1	½	½	0	1	½	1	½	1	6.5/11	32.5
4		Kateryna Lagno	2546	2546	½	½	0		½	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	6.5/11	32.25
5		Elisabeth Paehtz	2456	2521	0	½	½	½		1	½	1	½	0	½	1	6.0/11	30
6		Nana Dzagnidze	2524	2516	0	½	½	½	0		½	½	1	½	1	1	6.0/11	28
7		Anna Muzychuk	2535	2483	½	½	1	½	½	½		0	½	1	0	½	5.5/11
8		Alina Kashlinskaya	2494	2455	0	1	0	0	0	½	1		1	0	½	1	5.0/11
9		Antoaneta Stefanova	2470	2425	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	0		1	1	0	4.5/11	24.25
10		Valentina Gunina	2421	2429	0	0	0	0	1	½	0	1	0		1	1	4.5/11	20
11		Dinara Saduakassova	2500	2389	0	0	½	½	½	0	1	½	0	0		1	4.0/11
12		Irina Bulmaga	2440	2231	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	0		2.0/11

Abdumalik continued very strongly after the rest day, winning three games in a row against GM Nana Dzagnidze, IM Alina Kashlinskaya, and GM Valentina Gunina. Mariya Muzychuk fell back with two draws and then a loss to Kashlinskaya.

Abdumalik played a topsy-turvy game with Dzagnidze where she prevailed in tactical complications. The engine provides some stunning possibilities for both sides:

Dzagnidze Abdumalik Gibraltar 2021 — Dzagnidze vs. Abdumalik. Photo: John Saunders/FIDE.

Here’s Mammadzada’s win vs. Lagno from round eight. One mistake by the world number-five female player was enough for the young Azerbaijani to take control:

Gunay Mammadzada chess Gibraltar — Gunay Mammadzada. Photo: David Llada/FIDE.

Games rounds 7-11

The tournament in Gibraltar was the fourth and final leg of the FIDE Grand Prix series. The first three took place in Skolkovo, Monaco, and Lausanne in 2019-2020. Then the series was interrupted by the pandemic.

2019-2021 Women’s Grand Prix Series | Final Standings

Rank	Fed	Player	Skolkovo	Monaco	Lausanne	Gibraltar	Total
1		Aleksandra Goryachkina	120	133⅓	145		398⅓
2		Humpy Koneru	160	133⅓			293⅓
3		Kateryna Lagno	90	90		100	280
4		Zhansaya Abdumalik			110	160	270
5		Nana Dzagnidze		35	145	75	255
6		Mariya Muzychuk		60	60	130	250
7		Anna Muzychuk		80	85	60	225
8		Alexandra Kosteniuk	45	133⅓	15		193⅓
9-10		Harika Dronavalli	60	60	60		180
9-10		Alina Kashlinskaya	45		85	50	180
11		Elisabeth Paehtz	75	20		75	170
12		Ju Wenjun	120		35		155
13-14		Valentina Gunina	75	10		35	120
13-14		Antoaneta Stefanova	25		60	35	120
15		Pia Cramling	10	60	35		105
16		Gunary Mammadzada				100	100
17		Marie Sebag	25		15		40
18		Zhao Xue		35			35
19		Dinara Saduakassova				20	20
20		Irina Bulmaga				10	10

The qualifying spots went to Lagno and Koneru because GM Aleksandra Goryachkina has already qualified for the Candidates as the runner-up of the last world championship match. For the remaining five spots in the Candidates, three players will come from the FIDE World Cup, one from the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss, and one by rating.

That rating spot is at least slightly surprising because it was removed for the general 2022 Candidates. FIDE Director General Emil Sutovsky argued on Twitter: “Assigning a place in 2022 by Elo mostly amassed prior to 2020 isn’t fair.”

Commenting to Chess.com, Sutovsky pointed out that unlike in the “open” Candidates, the Women’s Candidates Tournament does not have a spot assigned personally (as was the case with GM Teimour Radjabov). “Hence we had a choice, what to do with it. The wildcard is the worst option; we neglected it. Adding to one of the qualifiers? We considered it. But at the end of the day, we felt the rating spot was to be preserved.”

One of the effects is that GM Hou Yifan, by far the highest-rated female player, would qualify on the condition that she has at least 15 standard games rated in the FIDE standard rating lists of 2021 or that she participates in either the World Cup or the Grand Swiss.

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