19 January 2020

Aleksandra Goryachkina Wins Game 8 of FIDE Women's World Championship Match

The score is 4.5-3.5 in favour of the Russian.


The eighth game of the FIDE Women's World Championship Match between Ju Wenjun (China) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) was played in Vladivostok on January 17.  

First symbolic moves were made by Efim Zvenyatsky, Art Director of the Gorky Drama Theatre in Vladivostok, and Ye Jiangchuan, President of the Chinese Chess Association and FIDE Vice-President.  

Aleksandra Goryachkina, who had the white pieces, started the game with 1.c4, however, the play transferred to the Exchange variation of the QGD. A double-edged position appeared quite early as Black traded her knight for White's blacksquared bishop on the g3-square thus opening up the h-file. Moreover, both players castled long. 

In the middlegame, the Russian started outplaying her opponent, who took several inaccurate decisions and spent a lot of time on thinking. White grabbed space on both sides of the board and then achieved full domination. Aleksandra won two pawns and methodically converted her material advantage in the rook endgame after the queens' exchange. The world champion resigned on move 45. 

The score is 4.5-3.5 in favour of Aleksandra Goryachkina.




As part of the additional programme, a master class by IA Alexander Tkachev and a simultaneous exhibition by GM Sergei Rublevsky were organized. Only Egor Sharipov, a young player from Khabarovsk, managed to defeat a renowned grandmaster.

January 18 is a rest day. The Match will resume on January 19 with Ju Wenjun playing as White. 

Official website

Tournament page

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili