Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina has won the 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix, 130 Grand Prix points, and €18,000 after making a draw with IM Nurgyul Salimova in the final round for a 7/9 score. GM Tan Zhongyi finished just half a point behind after scoring the day's only win, a 22-move demolition of IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, who nevertheless tied with IM Bibisara Assaubayeva for third place. 

Round 9 Results

Tan was able to narrow the gap, but couldn't stop Goryachkina from clinching the sole first place. 

Final Standings

The game with most at stake in Friday's final round in Shymkent was Tsolakidou-Tan, with the Greek women's number-one able to gain a grandmaster norm and second place with a win. For Tan it was just as clear-cut, since she needed victory to have a chance of tying Goryachkina for first place.

In the end it was the Chinese former women's world champion's day, as she won in just 22 moves with the black pieces in a game that had left the trodden path as early as move eight.

That powerful win was Tan's fifth in Shymkent.

The former women's world champion started 2024 as the world number-eight with a 2521 rating and a peak rating of 2530, but now she's up to 2561 and world number-three, as well as having earned a world championship rematch against GM Ju Wenjun at the age of 33. Tan is currently just two live rating points behind her great rival and compatriot.

That performance wasn't quite enough to win in Shymkent, however, since Tan came up against an inspired Goryachkina, who blew away the field with a five-game winning streak mid-tournament.

She commented after the final game: "There’s nothing without luck. Somehow in the middle of the tournament I got carried away and won so many games in a row that I crawled to the finish line."

With Tan winning the final game there was some pressure for Goryachkina against Salimova, but her position was never more than mildly unpleasant, and she drew the endgame with ease.

That was Goryachkina's first Grand Prix of the 2024-5 series, while the two players competing in their second, Tsolakidou and Assaubayeva, tied for third place and now have the early lead in the overall series—each player competes in three of the six events.

We've seen that Tsolakidou finished with a loss, while Assaubayeva, the overall leader after finishing sole second in the Tbilisi Women's Grand Prix, made a quiet draw—IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul's only non-decisive game of the whole event. They picked up €9,500 each for third place.

GMs Koneru Humpy and Kateryna Lagno also made a quiet draw as they wound down difficult events with three draws each, but IM Divya Deshmukh was in no mood to see her tournament end with a whimper.

She went on the attack against GM Elisabeth Paehtz, the only player not to win a game in Shymkent, but it nearly backfired as she found herself scrambling to avoid defeat in the run-up to the time control. She made a couple of moves with two seconds to spare, but didn't blunder, and may have been a little relieved when Paehtz decided not to pick up a pawn and play on in the final position.

That's all for the Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix, with the next event in the series slated to take place in Monaco in February.

How to rewatch?

The 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix was the second of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin ran October 30-November 8 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Players had 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize was €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20 players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 8: Salimova Scores 1st Win; Goryachkina On Brink Of Overall Victory
• Round 7: Goryachkina Wins 5th In A Row, Tan Zhongyi Keeps Up Chase
• Round 6: Goryachkina Makes It 4-In-A-Row; Lagno, Tan, Stavroula Also Win
• Round 5: Goryachkina's Hat Trick Gives Her Sole Lead; Divya Scores 1st Win
• Round 4: Humpy, Goryachkina Win Again To Catch Tan Zhongyi In Lead
• Round 3: Tan Zhongyi Takes Sole Lead; Humpy, Goryachkina Also Grab Wins
• Round 2: 17-Move Disaster For Paehtz As Tan Survives Scare Vs. Humpy
• Round 1: Tan, Assaubayeva, Tsolakidou Win As 2nd Women's Grand Prix Begins
• Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
• FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info