Women's Candidates: Muzychuk sisters win, Goryachkina stays at the top
Kosteniuk missed several winning chances against Lagno and the game eventually ended up in a draw. It was the only draw of the round. Gunina went all-in against Goryachkina but that was not enough as soon her position was a complete mess which Goryachkina had no trouble cleaning up for a full point and stretch her lead by 2.5 points. Anna Muzychuk seemed to be in an uncomfortable queen less middle game, however she swerved her opponent into blundering an exchange which resulted her in scoring the full point in the endgame. Mariya Muzychuk won against Tan Zhongyi without any difficulty resulting in both Muzychuk sisters win again. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Muzychuk sisters win, Goryachkina increases her lead
Kateryna Lagno after the game said, "It was risky to play this opening". She was talking about her opening choice of playing Modern Defence with the Black pieces against Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk - Kateryna Lagno, Round 9
Valentina Gunina who herself played Caro-Kann with the Black pieces faced it with White against Aleksandra Goryachkina. Gunina opted for the Two-Knight's variation. It was evident from the get-go that Gunina has come to round 9 with a 'do-or-die' attitude.
Valentina Gunina - Aleksandra Goryachkina, Round 9
Goryachkina-Mariya ended up in a draw after a prolonged endgame. However, Mariya almost had a half chance which she could have taken.
Nana Dzagnidze - Anna Muzychuk, Round 9
Mariya executed her plan correctly in the Ruy Lopez Archangelsk variation.
Mariya Muzychuk - Tan Zhongyi, Round 9
Round 10 will start on Wednesday 12th June 2019 at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Here are the pairings:
Alexandra Kosteniuk — Valentina Gunina
Kateryna Lagno — Aleksandra Goryachkina
Anna Muzychuk — Tan Zhongyi
Mariya Muzychuk — Nana Dzagnidze
Watch all games live here from 5:30 p.m. IST
The organizers are FIDE, Russian Chess Federation, Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan, and city administration of Kazan. The tournament is sponsored by PJSC PhosAgro and Russian Railways.