Kateryna Lagno scored a remarkable four wins in a row in the final stretch to prevail over Alua Nurman. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Shuvalova, Lagno Prevail In Nail-Biting Encounters

IM VSaravanan

Updated: Aug 23, 2024, 12:18 PM | 9 | Chess Event Coverage

IM Polina Shuvalova and GM Kateryna Lagno scored crucial wins in the 1+1 bullet segments to stage a comeback and win their respective matches to advance to the Quarterfinals of the 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship.

Shuvalova recovered from a 1-3 deficit at the start of the match, and again from a 4-5 deficit after the first game of the 1+1 bullet segment to defeat GM Tan Zhongyi in the exciting first Round of 16 match of the day. Tan missed many promising positions toward the end of the match, losing the crucial 10th and 11th games and thus helping Shuvalova to win with the final score of 7-6.

Lagno's victory was even more dramatic, as she scored four wins in a row in the final stretch of the 1+1 bullet segment to prevail with a score of 8.5-6.5. She seemed to be staring at defeat trailing WIM Alua Nurman at 4.5-6.5 after the end of the first game of the bullet segment when wins in all the remaining four games sealed the match in her favor.

The next Round of 16 match GM Hou Yifan vs. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk takes place on Monday, August 26 at 7.00 a.m. ET / 13.00 CEST / 4.30 p.m. IST.

Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship Bracket

At the very beginning of the first match, commentator GM Judit Polgar pointed out the importance of a special kind of psychological preparation for such online matches, with different time controls woven into a single episode, and each game started by the system immediately after the end of the previous game. Unlike an over-the-board tournament, this doesn't give a player any time for recovery.

"How do you deal with [a] loss? How do you deal with your mistakes [and blunders]? Because, you have to move on, right? ...You have to go to the next game. This is a very serious difference from player to player. This will define how good they can be," predicted Polgar. In both the matches of the day, her prophecy became a signpost, as both Shuvalova and Lagno had to fight hard to bury their immediate memories and to overcome their mishaps in the previous games.

Tan Zhongyi 6-7 Polina Shuvalova

Even though Tan seemed to be the more formidable of the opponents, commentator GM Benjamin Bok pointed out Shuvalova's better experience in such online events to be an X-factor, thus predicting an evenly contested match.

Blitz 5+1: Tan 3-1 Shuvalova

Even though she lost the first game due to a blunder in the final seconds, Tan seemed to prove her credentials as a former women's world champion and a former women's world rapid champion, when she won a further three games in a row to capture the lead at 3-1.

Tan won the second and fourth games by grinding out long endgames, whereas she was gifted with a piece in the third game with a curious oversight.

White has a small advantage, which Black can try to fight out with a move like 22...Qf6. Instead, she played 22...Ba8?? when she was forced to give up a piece after 23.a5.

Blitz 3+1: Tan 1.5-2.5 Shuvalova

This was the most well-fought segment, when Shuvalova showed her resilience to escape from difficult positions, even though Tan showed her strength in dynamic positions to build superior positions in almost every game. After a loss in the sixth game due to a blunder in an equal endgame, Tan scored a fluent win in the seventh game.

Thus, Shuvalova was trailing in the match at a score of 2.5-4.5 points at this point, and she was staring at defeat in the next game too.

Thus, at the end of the segment, Shuvalova was trailing at 3.5-4.5.

Bullet 1+1: Tan 1.5-3.5 Shuvalova

The tenth-round encounter was the most crucial game for Shuvalova, as Tan blundered after building up a huge advantage right from the opening.

Thus, the scores got level at this point at 5-5, and Shuvalova scored a well-deserved win in the 11th game, and staved off Tan's attempts in the last two games, to earn a well-fought win in the match.

Kateryna Lagno 8.5-6.5 Alua Nurman

Lagno is a former women's world rapid champion and thrice women's world blitz champion, though it was a question as to how she would perform in an online format with progressively quicker time controls. Another was the age factor, with Nurman at 17 years, being just half her age.

Lagno also revealed after the match that she is currently participating in the Russian Team Championship, and this was a rest day for the tournament.

Comparatively, this was a much more interesting match when it came to the sharpness of games. Both Lagno and Nurman did not shy away from tactics, making the match exciting though error-prone.

Blitz 5+1: Lagno 2-3 Nurman

Lagno won the first game, seemingly proving her reputation as a blitz specialist.

However, Nurman exploited Lagno's tactical errors in the second and fourth games to capture the lead at the end of the segment.

Blitz 3+1: Lagno 2.5-2.5 Nurman

This was the most exciting part of the match, with both combatants trading wins and missing a couple each. Nurman played one of the best games of the entire match when she scored a convincing win from an equal-looking position in the tenth game.

After this win, Nurman had the lead in the match with a score of 5.5-4.5.

Bullet 1+1: Lagno 4-1 Nurman

Lagno started the segment by losing the very first game, through a blunder in a complicated middlegame, thus allowing Nurman to stretch her lead to two points.

White had blundered with his previous move, and Black came up with the simple 23...Nxe5! winning a pawn and went on to win the game. At this point, Nurman's lead was a healthy 6.5-4.5, and the match looked going her way.

However, Lagno recovered an immediate comeback, winning the next game with black pieces conducting an efficient kingside attack. In the crucial 13th game, Nurman blundered a piece on the 23rd move in an otherwise level position, thus allowing Lagno to tie the overall match score at 6.5-6.5.

Black's previous move was a blunder, allowing White to win a whole piece with 24.b4, as the knight on c5 is trapped.

Thus, with just about seven minutes remaining for the conclusion of the match with a 1+1 time control, another nail-biting finale was on the cards.

This remarkable turnaround gave Lagno the lead in the match for the first time with 7.5-6.5, and she won the next game too convincingly to win a dramatic match.

How to watch?

You can watch the broadcast on Twitch and YouTube. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Judit Polgar and GM Benjamin Bok.

The Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls. Four places go to the winners of four Play-ins held on August 12-16 and open to all female titled players. In each Play-in the top four players in a Swiss qualify to compete in a knockout.

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