Women's Speed Chess Grand Prix Leg 2 Results
GM Valentina Gunina won the second leg of the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix. The Russian grandmaster beat GM Anna Ushenina 7-5 in the final on Sunday, which was a repeat of the final of the first leg, won by Ushenina.
Earlier in the day, GM Kateryna Lagno won the match for third place as she beat IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh 9.5-2.5.
You can find the full news report on the finals of Leg 2 here.
The third leg of the Grand Prix starts Wednesday, July 8 with games starting from 5:30 a.m. Pacific time / 14:30 Central Europe with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV.
| Date | Time (PDT) | Time (CEST) | Fed | Player | Score | Fed | Player |
| July 5 | 05:30 | 14:30 | Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh | 2.5-9.5 | Kateryna Lagno | ||
| July 5 | 07:00 | 16:00 | Anna Ushenina | 5-7 | Valentina Gunina |
The format of the matches is a 30-minute segment of 5+1 games, a 30-minute segment of 3+1 games followed by a 10-minute segment of 1+1 games.
In the first, very tense semifinal, Ushenina beat IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran by winning the armageddon game of the playoff. Gunina then won 6.5-4.5 against her compatriot GM Kateryna Lagno, who will play Khademalsharieh in a match for third place.
Grand Prix Leg 2 | Schedule & results semifinals
| Date | Time (PDT) | Time (CEST) | Fed | Player | Score | Fed | Player |
| July 3 | 05:30 | 14:30 | Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh | 7-8 | Anna Ushenina | ||
| July 3 | 07:00 | 16:00 | Kateryna Lagno | 4.5-6.5 | Valentina Gunina |
One of the biggest clashes in the quarterfinals was the one between former women's world champions Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina. Ushenina ended up winning this match, while GM Valentina Gunina beat WGM Vaishali Rameshbabu. Kateryna Lagno then crushed Zhansaya Abdumalik, who could only win the very last game, and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh won a close match against Olga Girya.
Grand Prix Leg 2 | Schedule & results quarterfinals
| Date | Time (PDT) | Time (CEST) | Fed | Player | Score | Fed | Player |
| July 2 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Valentina Gunina | 7-3 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | ||
| July 2 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Hou Yifan | 4.5-6.5 | Anna Ushenina | ||
| July 2 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Kateryna Lagno | 10.5-1.5 | Zhansaya Abdumalik | ||
| July 2 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh | 6-5 | Olga Girya |
In the round of 16, women's world number-one Hou Yifan won in her debut, while the finalists of the first leg, GMs Anna Ushenina and Valentina Gunina, also went through.
Grand Prix Leg 2 | Round of 16 results
| Date | Time (PDT) | Time (CEST) | Fed | Player | Score | Fed | Player |
| July 1 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Kateryna Lagno | 9-4 | Ning Kaiyu | ||
| July 1 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Valentina Gunina | 7.5-4.5 | Le Thao Nguyen Pham | ||
| July 1 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Anna Muzychuk | 4-6 | Vaishali Rameshbabu | ||
| July 1 | 5:30 | 14:30 | Hou Yifan | 5.5-4.5 | Gunay Mammadzada | ||
| July 1 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Zhansaya Abdumalik | 6.5-4.5 | Deysi Cori | ||
| July 1 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Harika Dronavalli | 4-7 | Anna Ushenina | ||
| July 1 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Ju Wenjun | 5.5-6.5 | Olga Girya | ||
| July 1 | 7:00 | 16:00 | Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh | 7-3 | Irina Krush |
Preview of the second leg
Based on FIDE blitz ratings, the top seed is GM Kateryna Lagno, who again faces the 15-year-old WIM Ning Kaiyu of China. In the first leg, Lagno won her match 8-3.
The fans will surely be excited by another Chinese player in this field. Hou, the women's world number-one in classical chess but actually second behind Lagno in blitz, didn't play in the first leg, which means she'll be active in the three remaining ones. Today she starts with a match against IM Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan, who turned 20 two weeks ago.
Former world blitz champion GM Anna Muzychuk faces WGM Vaishali Rameshbabu, who reached the semifinals in the first leg. Early Grand Prix leader Ushenina has a tough opponent straight away in GM Harika Dronavalli. IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh vs. GM Irina Krush is a clash between two debutants. Basically all matchups in this round of 16 are exciting!
FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix | Standings After Leg 1
| # | Fed | Name | Rating | Leg 1 | Leg 2 | Leg 3 | Leg 4 | Score |
| 1 | Anna Ushenina | 2387 | 12 | X | 12 | |||
| 2 | Valentina Gunina | 2476 | 8 | X | 8 | |||
| 3 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2521 | 6 | X | 6 | |||
| 4 | Vaishali R | 2313 | 5 | X | 5 | |||
| 5 | Kateryna Lagno | 2608 | 2 | X | 2 | |||
| 6 | Ju Wenjun | 2536 | 2 | X | 2 | |||
| 7 | Le Thao Nguyen Pham | 2325 | 2 | X | 2 | |||
| 8 | Munkhzul Turmunkh | 2235 | 2 | X | 2 | |||
| 9 | Hou Yifan | 2601 | X | 0 | ||||
| 10 | Anna Muzychuk | 2505 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 11 | Humpy Koneru | 2483 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 12 | Sarasadat Khadamalsharieh | 2431 | X | 0 | ||||
| 13 | Harika Dronavalli | 2422 | X | 0 | ||||
| 14 | Zhansaya Abdumalik | 2409 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 15 | Deysi Cori | 2391 | X | 0 | ||||
| 16 | Tatev Abrahamyan | 2352 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 17 | Irina Krush | 2342 | X | 0 | ||||
| 18 | Olga Girya | 2297 | X | 0 | ||||
| 19 | Gunay Mammadzada | 2242 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 20 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2232 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| 21 | Ning Kaiyu | 2013 | 0 | X | 0 | |||
| Wildcard | Antoaneta Stefanova | 2485 | X | X | X |
Each Grand Prix leg is a 16-player knockout and lasts five days, including one rest day after the semifinals. The dates of the remaining three legs are July 1-5, 8-12, and 15-19. Each of the Grand Prix legs has a total prize fund of $10,300 with $3,000 going to the winner.
In each Grand Prix leg, every player scores cumulative Grand Prix points according to her position in the final standings. The two players who score the highest number of cumulative Grand Prix points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for the Super Final on July 20.
More information about the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Links to results pages & news
