Kashlinskaya Beats Vaishali, Joins Leaders In Tbilisi

IM Alina Kashlinskaya said she was "in a good mood to play a fighting game" and ended up as the only winner in Wednesday's sixth round at the 2024 Tbilisi FIDE Women's Grand Prix. Kashlinskaya defeated GM Vaishali Rameshbabu and with the other four games ending in draws, she is now part of a five-player leading pack.

Round seven will start on Thursday, August 22, at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.

Round 6 Results

Half of the field is now co-leading the tournament with three rounds to go. Besides Kashlinskaya those are GMs Nana Dzagnidze and Mariya Muzychuk, and IMs Bibisara Assaubayeva and Stavroula Tsolakidou.

Standings After Round 6

Russian-born Kashlinskaya, who represents Poland and is married to GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek, scored her first win after starting the tournament with five draws. It was a good game for her from the get-go, even though her morning preparation didn't go as planned.

"I have to admit that the opening that happened, the King's Indian Defense, was the only opening on my list to repeat before the game that I didn't check," she revealed afterward.

Kashlinskaya could draw from memory, though, using a variation (5.Be2 and 6.Be3) she had prepared about two years ago, before becoming pregnant with her son who is with her in Tbilisi, together with her mother.

🗣️ "Now, as I am a mom, I want to travel with my son everywhere because I don't want to lose time that is important for me and for him. It is great that we have the opportunity to come to the tournament (Chess Olympiad) together. I am looking forward to going to the Olympiad with… pic.twitter.com/6Cy7p3R8V4

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 21, 2024

She played the very sharp line with 9...b5 and later noted: "I actually knew it from Black's perspective and I knew that it exists, but also I knew that objectively it's not great."

Kashlinskaya initially reacted with the best moves to get a better game, but gave her opponent one chance to get back into the game on move 15. A mistake from her opponent on the next move, however, left Vaishali with a very bad position.

Kazakhstan's IM Bibisara Assaubayeva was under pressure against IM Lela Javakhishvili earlier in the tournament but survived the rook endgame. Also against Dzagnidze, the other Georgian player in the field, Assaubayeva escaped from what was this time a clearly lost position.

Like Kashlinskaya, Dzagnidze played strongly from the white side of a King's Indian, in this case the Smyslov variation. The moves 18.d5!, 22.Rxb7! and 26.Nxf5! were just wonderful and gave the feeling that Dzagnidze deserved to win this game.

But chess, as we know, is a cruel game since things can turn around in just one move. On move 35, Dzagnidze blundered terribly, after which the game ended in a draw.

How does she do it? Assaubayeva: "I think I just continue to play and if my opponent makes the strongest moves, okay, I will resign, but if not I continue to play and try to find some chances and sometimes it helps."

After scoring her first win in the previous round, IM Sara Khadem definitely had chances to do it again. She had no trouble equalizing in a Ruy Lopez vs. Mariya Muzychuk and soon got a much better position in a middlegame with opposite-colored bishops. Because those are notoriously promising for the attacking player, she should have avoided the trade of queens on move 28.

GM Anna Muzychuk and Tsolakidou played a rather quiet game, but one which lasted for 57 moves. The reason was Tsolakidou's spoiled pawn structure which, in the endgame, gave Muzychuk the advantage. Similar to the Exchange Ruy Lopez, White had a pawn minority that could provide a passed pawn but, thanks to doubled pawns, Black didn't have the same option.

At first sight, Black always seemed OK but the engine points out one moment where White was perhaps winning after all:

The last game that is covered here was the first to finish. GMs Alexandra Kosteniuk and Javakhishvili drew quickly in an Anti-Berlin Ruy Lopez:

With three rounds to go and five leaders, anything can happen in Tbilisi!

The 2024 Tbilisi FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the first of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs August 15-24 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Players have 90 minutes per game, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20 players competes in three of the six events, with the top two overall qualifying for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 5: Sara Khadem, Nana Dzagnidze, Mariya Muzychuk All Score 1st Wins
• Round 4: Kosteniuk Joins Grand Prix Leaders
• Round 3: Vaishali Breaks The Deadlock In Tbilisi
• Round 2: Vaishali, Dzagnidze Miss Wins In Tbilisi
• Round 1: Assaubayeva, Tsolakidou Win As Muzychuk Sisters Improve On Nakamura-Vidit
• FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info