Women's World Championship

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  • #31
    Re: test post only

    An interesting chessgames.com stat is that Natalija Pogonina has neither beaten nor lost to a Muzychuk in 6 career opportunities, 5 draws with Anna (including a 154-mover!) and 1 with Mariya. Being strictly a 1.e4 player, at least Natalija won't have to contend with Mariya's wont Dutch Defence. Harika Dronavalli opened with 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 today but Mariya replied in both cases with 1. ...f5, heading to her beloved Dutch Defence (with a win and a draw).

    Nalalija has White in game 1 of 4 (on Thursday) and is the slight betting favourite for the opening game at 9/4. Mariya is 4/1 with Black, with 5/6 draw odds. No match odds as yet but Mariya will clearly be the betting favourite.
    Last edited by Jack Maguire; Tuesday, 31st March, 2015, 03:38 PM.

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    • #32
      Re: test post only

      Originally posted by Jack Maguire View Post
      An interesting chessgames.com stat is that Natalija Pogonina has neither beaten nor lost to a Muzychuk in 6 career opportunities, 5 draws with Anna (including a 154-mover!) and 1 with Mariya. Being strictly a 1.e4 player, at least Natalija won't have to contend with Mariya's wont Dutch Defence. Harika Dronavalli opened with 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 today but Mariya replied in both cases with 1. ...f5, heading to her beloved Dutch Defence (with a win and a draw).

      Nalalija has White in game 1 of 4 (on Thursday) and is the slight betting favourite for the opening game at 9/4. Mariya is 4/1 with Black, with 5/6 draw odds. No match odds as yet but Mariya will clearly be the betting favourite.
      In an article on Susan Polgar's blog, http://www.susanpolgar.blogspot.ca/2...r-spot-in.html
      there is this statement:
      "In the recent years, Natalia Pogonina plays 1.d4 more frequently, however,
      today she needed to win on demand, and went for the more aggressive 1.е4."

      so perhaps only Natalia knows what she will play in the final round...
      She seems to have better control over her nerves and has demonstrated tremendous tenacity so
      I would have to think she is the favourite over Muzychuk. I'm afraid neither player stands much
      of a chance against Hou Yifan. [all of this my opinion of course]
      ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

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      • #33
        Re: test post only

        Funny, 2 players I played in Gibraltar 2 months ago, lost in semi-finals (Harika and Cramling).

        For some reason, players from Russia and Ukraine do very well in this kind of tournament (Open and Women). I remember finals Kramnik-Andreikin, Svidler-Grischuk last 2 World Cups. It was Ivanchuk-Ponomarev final 15 years ago. Uchenina won the previous women event.

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        • #34
          Some instructive endings in the semi-finals

          There have been some instructive endgames in the event. I will list a couple of them here.

          One is the Rook and pawn endgame played by the Swedish GM Pia Cramling, in a winning effort against WGM Natalija Pogonina. GM Cramling eventually lost the match but was smiling even in defeat. Good on her.

          Cramling,P - Pogonina,N [D56] WWCC2015 Sochi (28.2), 29.03.2015

          1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 c6 10.Qc2 Nd7 11.Be2 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 dxc4 13.Qxc4 e5 14.0-0 e4 15.Nd2 Nf6 16.Qc5 Qxc5 17.Rxc5 Be6 18.Ra5 Rfd8 19.Bc4 Bxc4 20.Nxc4 a6 21.Nb6 Rab8 22.Rc1 Kf8 23.b4 Rd6 24.Re5 Re8 25.Rec5 Red8 26.a4 Re6 27.h3 Ke8 28.g4 Nd5 29.Nxd5 Rxd5

          Originally posted by Sergey Shipov
          On the first day of the Semifinals we saw one of the best games of the championship. The level of play demonstrated by Cramling in a rook ending with Pogonina meets the highest standards. This game can easily be included into endgame manuals, and studying it will benefit chess players of any level.

          Pia followed the "don't rush!" principle rigorously. Natalia did not commit any major mistakes, she just made a couple of inaccurate moves after the opening. She thought passive defense can bring her the desired draw, but underestimated the resources and craftiness of her skilled opponent. Pia's victory was absolutely logical.


          Play continued: 30. Rxd5 cxd5 31.Rc5 Rd6 32.a5 Kd7 33.b5 axb5 34.Rxb5 Kc6 35.Rc5+ Kd7 36.Kg2 g5 37.Kg3 Kd8 38.f3 exf3 39.Kxf3 Kd7 40.Kg3 Kd8 41.Kf2 Kd7 42.Ke2 Kd8 43.Kd2 Kd7 44.Kd3 Kd8 45.Ke2 Kd7 46.Kf1 Kd8 47.Kg2 Kd7 48.Kg3 Kd8 49.h4 Kd7 50.h5 Kd8 51.Kf3 Kd7 52.Ke2 Kd8 53.Kd3 Kd7 54.Rb5 Kc7 55.e4 dxe4+ 56.Kxe4 Rf6 57.Rf5 Re6+ 58.Kd5 Rd6+ 59.Kc4 f6 60.Rb5 Re6 61.Kd5 Re3 62.Rb6 Rf3 63.Ke6 Rf4 64.d5 Re4+ 65.Kxf6 Rxg4 66.d6+ Kc8 67.Kg6 Rg1 68.Kxh6 g4 69.Kg7 g3 70.h6 Rh1 71.Rb2 Rh4 72.h7 Rg4+ 73.Kf6 Rh4 74.Kg6 Kd7 75.Rxb7+ Kxd6 76.Rb1 Ke5 77.a6 g2 78.Rg1 Rg4+ 79.Kh5 1-0



          The other ending was one in which Indian GM Harika (Dronavalli) let a win slip through her fingers against IM Mariya Muzychuk.

          [Place game here]



          Here Black replies 41...Qg7 rather than the horrific 41...Kh5?? 42. g4+ with mate to follow.

          The game continued:

          42.Qxd5 [with initiative] h5 43.Qe6+ Qf6 44.Qe8+ Kh6 45.h4± Qd6 46.Qh8+ Kg6 47.Qg8+ Kf6 48.Qg5+ Ke5 49.Qxh5+- Qd3 50.Qh8+ Ke6 51.Qh6+ Kf7 52.Qxb6 Qf3+ 53.Kh2 Qe2 54.Qe3 Qd1 55.Qf4 Ke6 56.Qh6+ Ke7 57.Qg7+ Ke6 58.Qg8+ Kf6 59.Qf8+ Ke6 60.Qe8+ Kf6 61.Qc6+ Kf7 62.Qc7+ Kg6 63.Qxa5 Qxb3 64.Qb5 Qa2 65.Qb6+ Kf7 66.a5



          66...e3 This is Black's only hope.

          67.Qxe3 Qxa5 68.Qf4 Kg6 69.Qg5+ Kf7 70.Qh5+ Kf6 71.Qh6+ Kf7 72.h5 Qc5 73.Qf4 Kg7 74.Qg5+ Kf7 75.Kg1 Qd5 76.Qg6+ Ke7 77.Qg7+ Ke8



          78.Qg6+ [Better is 78.h6 which is just winning outright. 78...Qd1+ 79.Kh2 Qf3 80.h7 Qxf2+ 81.Kh3 Qf1+ 82.Kh4 Qh1+ 83.Kg5 Qc1+ 84.Kg6 Qc6+ 85.Qf6 ... and no more checks.]

          The game continued: 78...Ke7 79.Qg5+ Kf7 80.h6 Qd1+ 81.Kg2 Qd5+ 82.Kh2 Qf3



          83.Qe3?? White has the win in her back pocket to this point. Now Black miraculously saves the draw. [Better by far was 83.Qg7+ Ke6 84.h7 Qxf2+ 85.Kh3 Qe1 86.Qg6+ Ke7 87.Qxf5; Even 83.Qd2 Kg6 84.Qd6+ Kh7 85.Kg1 Qg4 86.Qf6 looks winning]

          The game continued: 83...Qxe3 84.fxe3 Kg6 85.Kg2 Kxh6 86.Kf2 Kh5 87.Kf3 Kg5 88.Kf2 Kh5 89.Kg2 Kg4 90.Kf2 Kh5 91.Kg1 Kg5 92.Kh2 Kh5 93.Kh3 Kg5 94.Kg2 Kg4 95.Kf2 Kh5 96.Kf3 Kg5

          ½-½ Harika,D - Muzychuk,M [A10] WWCC2015 Sochi (32.1), 31.03.2015



          Harika lost the subsequent game and thereby the match. That's gotta hurt.

          Sochi is really turning into a chess city, what with this event, the World Ch. match between Anand and Carlsen, and so on.

          P.S. The games can be downloaded in a pgn format over here: Download or view games.
          Last edited by Nigel Hanrahan; Tuesday, 31st March, 2015, 05:29 PM. Reason: add 2nd game, editing layout, add link
          Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

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          • #35
            Re: Some instructive endings in the semi-finals

            Despite the fact that Nalalija is the slight betting favourite with White in game one tomorrow, Mariya is a rather solid favourite to win the match, 63/100 vs 6/5.

            https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betti...ames/1st+Game/

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            • #36
              Re: test post only

              Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
              Looks like Natalija Pogonina (the comeback kid) vs Marija Muzychuk (the little sister) in the finals!
              It appears Pogonina has lost the final match with the black pieces. She played a Ruy Lopez Breyer and was defeated by her opponent whose name escapes me at the moment. I don't really follow women's chess all that much.

              The R.L. Breyer is probably not the best variation to use for such an important game. Readers are probably rolling their eyes and thinking: There he goes again. I found some info on a weakness on the net and have some information around here somewhere. Anyhow here's the link to what's on the net.

              https://www.newinchess.com/yearbook/pdf/yb66_106.pdf

              With theory running so deep in the Ruy Lopez can 9. .... Nb8 really be the losing more? If not it might be a very large contributor.
              Last edited by Gary Ruben; Friday, 3rd April, 2015, 03:34 PM.
              Gary Ruben
              CC - IA and SIM

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              • #37
                Re: test post only

                Marija won in game 2 of the final, there are two games to go. Here is an interview with Pogonina http://sochi2015.fide.com/en/main-pa...sensible-moves

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                • #38
                  Re: test post only

                  Thanks for the info, John. I thought it was a 2 game match but see I'm wrong. Lots of chess remaining.
                  Gary Ruben
                  CC - IA and SIM

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                  • #39
                    Re: test post only

                    Exciting game 2!

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                    • #40
                      Re: Women's World Championship

                      Can the comeback kid do it again when she absolutely has to?!!

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                      • #41
                        Re: Women's World Championship

                        Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
                        Can the comeback kid do it again when she absolutely has to?!!
                        While it certainly is still within the realm of possibility, Hans, only an idiot would bet Natalija to win the World Championship. I say that only because Marathon is currently offering 7/2 odds on Natalija becoming World Champion (vs 9/50 on Mariya) while giving 49/10 odds on her winning the game 4 tomorrow. Given she absolutely MUST win tomorrow's game to get to the playoffs on Monday and have any kind of chance of becoming World Champion, one should of course take the 49/10 odds and pass on those 7/2 odds (:

                        https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

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                        • #42
                          Re: Women's World Championship

                          Well actually Jack my post wasnt about betting. It was about inspiration and doing what she has to do. But I get your point.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Women's World Championship

                            You should move on to the US Championship Jack. There are much better pickings there if you know the field.

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                            • #44
                              Re: 8 am Toronto aka 5 am Vancouver etc.

                              3 weeks later, it has now become clear that Yuanling scared the bechampionship into Mariya :)

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                              • #45
                                Re: 8 am Toronto aka 5 am Vancouver etc.

                                Kudos to Mariya for playing a piece down both yesterday (early) and today (late) and ultimately having the only winning chances in both games. Imho, we now have the 2nd best possible matchup against Yifan Hou - the only better matchup being Mariya's sister, Anna (who's dead even with Yifan in their lifetime score). Mariya couldn't have a better 2nd in her corner than Anna (:

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