Anna Muzychuk forces tie-breakers after beating Humpy in last game
The Hindu
China’s Lei qualifies for the semifinals at the expense of Anna’s younger sister Maria
A draw would have taken her into the semifinals, but Koneru Humpy lost to Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the fourth and final classical game in the quarterfinal of the FIDE Women’s Candidates chess tournament at Monte Carlo on Saturday.
That levelled the score at 2-2 and the match will now be decided in tie-breakers. China’s Lei Tingjie, however, qualified for the semifinals, at the expense of Anna’s younger sister Maria Muzychuk; their game was drawn, with the Chinese winning the match 2.5-1.5.
Humpy’s hopes of a draw received a setback when she erred — from an equal position with black in their Petrov’s Defence game — with her unwise ‘c’ pawn push on the 22nd move. But 11 moves later, Anna’s mistake brought Humpy back into the game.
The Ukrainian soon got the advantage back with a queen sacrifice and forced Humpy to resign on the 58th move.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.
The other men’s semifinal Friday is Norway’s Casper Ruud, twice the runner-up in Paris — to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 — against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Open, an Olympic gold medalist and into the final four at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.