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Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Colin_McGourty
| 6 | Chess Event Coverage

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

Rank Title Name FED Rating Points GP Points Prize money
1 GM Aleksandra Goryachkina 2533 7 130 €18,000
2 GM Tan Zhongyi 2551 6.5 105 €13,000
3= IM Bibisara Assaubayeva 2487 5 77.5 €9,500
3= IM Stavroula Tsolakidou 2439 5 77.5 €9,500
5= GM Koneru Humpy 2530 4.5 55 €6,500
5= IM Divya Deshmukh 2501 4.5 55 €6,500
7 GM Kateryna Lagno 2527 4 40 €5,000
8 IM Nurgyul Salimova 2405 3.5 30 €4,500
9= GM Elisabeth Paehtz 2458 2.5 15 €3,750
9= IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul 2344 2.5 15 €3,750

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.

Tan Zhongyi is at a career-high live rating after beating Stavroula Tsolakidou. Photo: Konstantin Chalabov/FIDE.

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.

Nurgyul Salimova finished the event well, but couldn't stop Goryachkina. Photo: Konstantin Chalabov/FIDE.

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.

Bibisara Assaubayeva couldn't become a grandmaster on home soil on this occasion, but she leads the FIDE Women's Grand Prix series. Photo: Konstantin Chalabov/FIDE.

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.

Divya Deshmukh and Elisabeth Paehtz played the last game to finish. Photo: Konstantin Chalabov/FIDE.

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.

Grand Prix Dates
1 Tbilisi, Georgia August 15-24, 2024
2 Shymkent, Kazakhstan October 30-November 8, 2024
3 Monaco February 18-27, 2025
4 Cyprus March 15-24, 2025
5 India April 15-24, 2025
6 Austria May 6-15, 2025

How to rewatch?

You can replay the broadcast on FIDE's YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 2024 Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix events page

The live broadcast was hosted by IM Irine Sukandar and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko.

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.


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Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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