GM Joel’s Chess Week Recap - Episode 152

Opening: D35, A06, D27, D31, D46, D38, E04:

Player(s): Goryachkina, Ju, So, Firouzja, Giri, Duda, Artemiev, Caruana, Anand, Saduakassova, Ganguly

Aleksandra Goryachkina pulled out game eight to take a 4.5-3.5 lead. Ju's play continued to look a bit unsteady as Goryachkina built up an initiative and won in the endgame.
Ju came back to tie in game nine, though it looked unlikely for a while. Sporting a bomber jacket spelling out "whatever" (better at, least than "I don't care, do you?"), Ju played the early part uninspired and got a disadvantage. She came back but got in trouble after another risky decision, but Goryachkina lost her way and had to bail out into a worse endgame, which Ju prosecuted with a steady hand.
Goryachkina was reportedly upset to have to speak to the media after losing, a sign that her nerves were getting frayed. Just today, she fell behind after needlessly overplaying for the win in the endgame. With just two games left, Ju Wenjun is now in a dominant position to retain her title.<BR>
Alireza Firouzja is on a roll after leaving behind his native Iran. He has been in the lead almost the whole way, and shares the lead after 8 rounds with Fabiano Caruana. Caruana has picked up speed by defeating Dubov and Anand in the last two rounds. However, he pulled off some grand larceny against Anand who not only let a win slip, but a draw as well. And what of Magnus? I wonder if his long unbeaten string, now up to a record 115 games, has worn on him a bit as he has shown little fire thus far. However, he did manage to put up his first win in round 8 over an out-of-sorts Vitiugov, who put up little resistance after a bad loss to van Foreest in round seven. Vitiugov's final move was quite weak and left him with a big disadvantage; however, resigning the game without losing even a single pawn (yet) is a bit strange.

Download Joel's annotated games HERE!

Teacher's library (453) D35 A06 D27 D31 D46 D38 E04 Goryachkina Ju So Firouzja Giri Duda Artemiev Caruana Anand Saduakassova Ganguly recap