World Women’s Team 2021 QF: India eliminates Kazakhstan and advances to the Semifinals
India eliminated Kazakhstan in the Quarterfinals to advance to the Semifinals of FIDE World Women's Team Championship 2021. This triumph ensured India's first ever medal in this event. Mary Ann Gomes played a key role as she won both of her games in the Quartefinals. Harika after missing out a win in the first Duel, managed to convert her advantage and score a convincing win in the second Duel. Vaishali drew both of her games. Tania lost a completely winning game and Bhakti also had a good position in her game. India will face Georgia in the Semifinals today. Duel 1 starts at 3 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST) and Duel 2 is from 6 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Niki Riga/FIDE
Mary wins both of her Duels
WGM Mary Ann Gomes won both of her games for Team India in the Quarterfinals. Harika won her second Duel to ensure India's first ever medal at the FIDE World Women's Team Championship.
Quarterfinals: Duel 1: India - Kazakhstan: 2-2
Harika and Vaishali drew, Bhakti lost and Mary won their respective games. Harika was completely winning the first game against GM Zhansaya Abdumalik who blundered in the final moments of the game.
Harika - Abdumalik
Black king is in a precarious situation. White just needs to zugzwang Black then White will win. Find out how. In time scramble, it was quite difficult to find the correct continuation. The game continued 72.Kd2 Ra2+ and eventually it ended in a draw after the rooks got exchanged.
IM Vaishali made an interesting sacrifice against IM Dinara Saduakassova.
Saduakassova - Vaishali
Whether 25...Nxf2 works or not, that's a different story. These sacrifice, especially in Rapid time control can unsettle your opponent, cost more time than usual and eventually cause them to blunder. Since a computer is not handling this position, it is quite improbable for a human to refute a sacrifice accurately which is exactly what happened, Vaishali managed to make a draw by repetition.
IM Bhakti Kulkarni got herself a very good position against WIM Meruert Kamalidenova.
Bhakti - Kamalidenova
19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.Qf3 puts White in firm control. 19.Ba3 Ng4 20.f6 Bh6 21.Bxc5 Ne3 allowed Black to get back in the game and eventually turn things in her favor.
WGM Mary Ann Gomes overcame a difficult position and eventually her opponent WGM Gulmira Dauletova blundered in an equal position.
Dauletova - Mary
White could have drawn the game 68.c7 Kd6 69.Bg4 Kxc7 70.Bxh5 and the rest should have been easy. However, White made a grave mistake 68.Bf5 Kd6 and then made another error 69.Nc3 Bxc3 70.Kxc3 Kc6 and rest is easy for Black to convert into a win.
Duel 2: Kazakhstan - India: 1.5-2.5
Harika and Mary won, Vaishali drew and Tania lost her game in Duel 2. Harika converted advantage beautifully to beat Abdumalik this time.
Vaishali made a solid draw against Saduakassova.
Tania was completely winning against Kamalidenova.
Kamalidenova - Tania
33...f4 and there is no defense for White. However, 33...exf3 allowed White to make a comeback in the game 34.Bxf6 and suddenly Black is in deep trouble and Tania lost the game in the next two moves.
Mary got a pleasant position out of the opening and Dauletova eventually made a positional mistake which made her opponent's bishop pair menacing.
Mary - Dauletova
46...Qd7 suddenly accentuates White's bishops at the center of the board. 47.Qh4 and it's all over for Black.
Replay Quarterfinal games of India
Schedule
Pool Stage: Monday 27th September
Round 1 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Round 2 - 6:00 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST)
Tuesday 28th September
Round 3 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Round 4 - 6:00 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST)
Wednesday 29th September
Round 5 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Quarterfinals: Thursday 30th September
Match 1 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Match 2 - 6:00 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST)
Tie-breaks - 8:30 p.m. CET (Friday 12:00 a.m. IST)
Semifinals: Friday 1st October
Match 1 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Match 2 - 6:00 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST)
Tie-breaks - 8:30 p.m. CET (Friday 12:00 a.m. IST)
Finals Saturday 2nd October
Match 1 - 3:00 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST)
Match 2 - 6:00 p.m. CET (9:30 p.m. IST)
Tie-breaks - 8:30 p.m. CET (Friday 12:00 a.m. IST)
Time Control
The time control is 45 minutes + 10 seconds increment for the entire game, for tie-breaks - 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
