Zhu Jiner, Vaishali Close Gap To Anna Muzychuk

GM Anna Muzychuk retains the sole lead in the 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix after making the only draw in round six, against GM Nana Dzagnidze, but wins for GM Zhu Jiner (her fourth in a row!) and GM Vaishali Rameshbabu saw them move within half a point. GM Tan Zhongyi also ground down IM Nurgyul Salimova in a long endgame to move within a point of the leader with three rounds of the Grand Prix to go.     

Round seven starts on Tuesday, May 13, at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CEST / 6:30 p.m. IST.

The schedule of the final Grand Prix was changed to have six rounds instead of the usual five before a rest day, but the players were in no mood for resting as what at first looked like being a quiet day saw another four decisive games.

Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 6 Results

The draw ensured Anna Muzychuk remained the sole leader, but Zhu and Vaishali cut the gap to half a point.

Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix Standings After Round 6

"In general, a draw with Black is a good result, so it’s ok," said Anna Muzychuk after making a quiet Grunfeld draw against Dzagnidze. That kept her on track to pick up 130 Grand Prix points for sole first place and take one of the two FIDE Women's Candidates spots on offer.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 As It Stands

Zhu is on course to win the overall series and boosted her chances as she climbed into a share of second place. She did that with a fourth win in a row that was all the more remarkable for following two losses at the start.

Mariya Muzychuk 0-1 Zhu

On a day of one-sided wins, this was the most dramatic clash, with Zhu taking over with a spectacular knight sacrifice, 31...Ndf4!!, in the run-up to the time control.

If the knight is taken, then the other knight and the queen threaten to give checkmate on g2. Mariya instead brought her rook back to b1 and gained chances of escaping when Zhu couldn't at first find the winning idea of pushing her g-pawn.

She got there in the end, however, so her winning streak has stretched to four games, while GM Mariya Muzychuk remains the one player yet to score a win in Grosslobming.

Zhu was joined in second place by the player she'd beaten the day before, Vaishali, who said of that clash, "It was a very tough loss. I was super-annoyed with myself. It was just a bad day; I felt my brain was just not working. I was spending a lot of time on simple moves."

Vaishali 1-0 Badelka

In round six, meanwhile, Vaishali described her game as "smooth." She played the Four Knights with Bb5, going for a sideline she noted she'd played in rapid and blitz. IM Olga Badelka's 15th move was questionable, while 16...c5? was borderline losing. Vaishali soon picked up a pawn and went on to convert it into a win with little trouble. "My play was easy—I was just playing logical moves," the Indian star explained.

There was a similar conversion of an extra pawn in the game between IM Lela Javakhishvili and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, with the former world champion grabbing the full point with the black pieces. It's a curiosity that both players have won two, lost three, and made one draw so far in the event—with Javakhishvili losing three games in a row with White. 

The last game to finish, meanwhile, could still be important for the overall Grand Prix standings.

Salimova 0-1 Tan

Tan won her first two games in Grosslobming but then slumped to two defeats in a row, spoiling her already small chances of qualifying for the Candidates from the Grand Prix. In round six, however, she got back to winning ways by somehow winning a position against Salimova where it seemed Black had absolutely no right to expect more than a draw. 

GM Viswanathan Anand pointed out that 37.f4 here, or on a couple more occasions, and it would be hard to imagine anything going wrong for White.

As it was, however, Tan managed to gradually up the pressure until, by the critical moment, there was a narrow path to a draw. One mistake on move 81, and it was game over! 

There's now a rest day before battle recommences on Tuesday. All three players with chances of qualifying for the Candidates have White in round seven, with Zhu taking on Dzagnidze, Tan playing Javakhishvili, and Anna Muzychuk facing bottom-placed Salimova. 

Round 7 Pairings

How to watch?

The 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the sixth and final leg of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs May 6-15 in Grosslobming, Austria. Players have 90 minutes, 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 events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 5: Zhu Jiner's 3rd Win In A Row Gives Her Grand Prix Pole Position
• Round 4: Zhu Is Back As Anna Muzychuk Takes Sole Lead
• Round 3: Anna Muzychuk Catches Vaishali In Austria Grand Prix Lead
• Round 2: Vaishali, Tan Still Perfect As Anna Muzychuk Takes Down Zhu
• Round 1: Tan Zhongyi Stuns Zhu Jiner To Boost Candidates Chances
• Humpy Wins Pune Women's Grand Prix, Zhu Closes On Candidates
• Anna Muzychuk Wins Cyprus Grand Prix On Tiebreaks
• Goryachkina Wins In Monaco, Takes FIDE Women's Grand Prix Lead
• Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix
• Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
• FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info