New Delhi GP Round 2: Vaishali loses against Bibisara
The reigning two-time World Blitz Women's champion, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva scored the first win of New Delhi GP 2023. The Kazakhstan teenager got the better of IM Vaishali in the endgame when the latter misplaced her knight. It was a difficult endgame to defend in the first place. Meanwhile, GM Harika Dronvalli was held to a draw by WGM Zhu Jiner in a well contested draw. The remaining two games between Goryachkina-Dzagnidze and Polina-Humpy ended in draws in 20 moves or less. Vaishali has a Bye in Round 3. Humpy vs Lagno and Dzagnidze vs Harika are some of the Round 3 matchups which starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
Two draws in 20 moves or less
Unlike the first round, only two fighting games were observed in Round 2, out of four games.
Vaishali - Bibisara
IM Vaishali (2433) had a difficult endgame to defend against the two-time World Blitz Women's champion, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2440). White is at a critical juncture where she had to decide the correct place for the knight to be able to save the game. The counter-intuitive 34.Na4 gives White the maximum chance to continue the fight Rb1+ 35.Kh2 Ne4 36.f3 Nd2 37.Nc5 Nf1+ 38.Kg1 Ne3+ 39.Kf2 Nd5 40.Rb7 would have been a better choice than what was played 34.Nb5 Ne4 35.f3 Nc5 36.Nd6 b3 37.Nc4 Rc2 38.Ne3 Rc3 39.Kf2 b2. The b-pawn just moved to b2 without much resistance and Black won the game in another five moves.
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Round 2 Results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
| 1 | 7 | 2433 | IM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 0 - 1 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2440 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 8 | 2489 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | + - - | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | 2474 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 9 | 2576 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | ½ - ½ | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2525 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 10 | 2511 | GM | Harika, Dronavalli | ½ - ½ | WGM | Zhu, Jiner | 2489 | 3 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 1 | 2484 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | ½ - ½ | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2576 | 2 | PGN | ||
| 6 | 11 | 2560 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 0 | bye | 0 | -1 |
Standings after Round 2
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
| 1 | 8 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | GEO | 2489 | 1,5 | 1 | 0,50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 2525 | 1 | 1 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 6 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | KAZ | 2440 | 1 | 1 | 1,00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2576 | 1 | 1 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | WGM | Zhu, Jiner | CHN | 2489 | 1 | 1 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2576 | 1 | 1 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10 | GM | Harika, Dronavalli | IND | 2511 | 1 | 1 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 1 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | FID | 2484 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 7 | IM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2433 | 1 | 0 | 0,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 11 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | FID | 2560 | 0,5 | 1 | 0,50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | 5 | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | GER | 2474 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 2576 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 2560 | 11 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 2489 | WGM | Zhu, Jiner | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 2484 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | 2525 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GM | Harika, Dronavalli | 2511 | 10 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 2474 | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2576 | 9 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | 2440 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2489 | 8 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | 2433 | IM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 0 | bye | 0 | -1 |
