Eline Roebers Wins Play-In 3 Despite Competing From Train
IM Eline Roebers of the Netherlands revealed after qualifying for the 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship that she competed for the whole of the Swiss part in a train, using her phone. She reached home "just in time" as the Knockout stage started, and defeated Indian WGM Priyanka Nutakki in the Semifinals and American IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova in the finals. Tokhirjonova had defeated Vietnamese IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham in the other Semifinal.
For the first time in the Play-In qualifiers, four players tied at the top, on 8/11, all qualifying for the knockout stage.
The final qualifier for the main event, Play-In 4, takes place on Friday, August 16, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.
Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship Play-In 3: Knockout
Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship Play-In 3: Swiss
Play-In 3: Swiss
Two youngsters provided the necessary thrill in the early rounds, for different reasons. The early games of 14-year-old Indian WFM Shubhi Gupta (one of the four surprising semi-finalists of Play-In 1) provided two dramatic incidents.
After benefitting from her opponent's miss, Gupta enjoyed even better fortune in the second round.
Though they provide excitement, such dramatic incidents in the final seconds, let alone overstepping the time limit, show the entertaining but cruel nature of blitz chess. It made commentator IM Jovanka Houska summarize, "The closing seconds—just feels at times it is a random lottery. You win, you lose... luck of the draw".
The closing seconds—just feels at times it is a random lottery. You win, you lose... luck of the draw.
—Jovanka Houska
But another youngster played impressively in the initial rounds, proving the theory that good blitz play is an indication of a player's intuitive prowess. We can add the caveat that it is true, provided one has enough time on the clock.
The nine-year-old prodigy WFM Bodhana Sivanandan of England dazzled early by playing an impressive endgame in the second round.
In the next round, Bodhana did even better by outplaying Roebers, the ultimate winner of the event.
Commentator GM Daniel Naroditsky was highly impressed by Bodhana's play, praising her lavishly: "This is phenomenal play. She is just nine years old. I mean, come on!"
This is phenomenal play! She is just nine years old. I mean, come on!
—Daniel Naroditsky
Apart from excitement and an exhibition of impressive intuition, it is always gladdening when we get to see aesthetic beauty on the board.
As is to be expected, there were inevitable heartbreaks. Joint-winner Nutakki benefitted from a grave error by her opponent, WCM Maya Porozhnyak, in a time scramble.
Porozhnyak did not continue playing in the tournament further.
But otherwise, it was an impressive tournament performance by Nutakki, who had to beat tournament leader Roebers with the black pieces on the top board in the last round to qualify for the Knockout.
Tokhirjonova qualified for the Knockout by defeating her fellow countrywoman, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, in the final round, through a curious oversight from her opponent.
Pham has an attractive dynamic style, which she put to good use by scoring a crucial win over the formidable Polish IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya in the penultimate round.
Play-In 3: Knockout
Semifinals: Roebers 3.5-1.5 Nutakki
Roebers admitted during the post-tournament interview that she was quite nervous throughout the knockout stage, but it did not seem to show in her games. Though the match seemed to be evenly poised at 1.5-1.5 after three games, Roebers conducted the next two games effectively, giving herself a smooth win in the match.
Semifinals: Tokhirjonova 4-2 Pham
The very first game of the match featured an incredible oversight.
Ouch!https://t.co/mVtwLsXdzI#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/yOQ0hI8SQV
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 15, 2024
Pham never really seemed to recover from the oversight, giving Tokhirjonova a convincing victory in the match.
Finals: Roebers 4-1 Tokhirjonova
After exchanging victories in the first two games, Roebers won the error-filled third to take the lead in the match. However, it was the fourth game that showed her caliber, as she played admirably dynamic chess to win a smooth game and cement her triumph in the finals.
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on Twitch and YouTube. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Jovanka Houska and GM Daniel Naroditsky.
The Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls. Four places go to the winners of four Play-ins held on August 12-16 and open to all female titled players. In each Play-in the top four players in a Swiss qualify to compete in a knockout.
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