Candidates 2024, Round 4: Vaishali holds favourite Goryachkina; aggressive Humpy falters against Salimova

Much after younger brother R. Praggnanandhaa proved equal to second seed Hikaru Nakamura in the concurrently played FIDE Candidates 2024, R. Vaishali did one better by holding top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina in the FIDE Women’s Candidates in the fourth round in Toronto on Sunday.

However, in the battle of the oldest and the youngest among eight players here, 37-year-old K. Humpy paid the price for her unusual, over-aggressive style and leaving the 20-year-old Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova with her maiden victory in the event.

The day could have seen two more decisive verdicts but the two Chinese girls escaped draws. Kateryna Lagno faltered against leader Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk let Lei Tingjie off the hook.

As a result, an extremely fortunate Tan retained her lead at three points, half a point ahead of Goryachkina.

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Humpy, after three sedate draws, seemed to have targeted Salimova for her first victory. After Salimova castled on the kingside, Humpy straightaway made her intentions clear by a pawn-roll, advancing a knight and looking to break the fortress of the white king by pushing another pawn.

The intention was fine but the execution left much to be desired. Humpy’s decision to keep her king in the centre suited her younger rival, who aimed at opening up the centre. Sensing a queen-rook aggression from Humpy, Salimova safely moved her king back to its starting block and went on to establish a kingside passed pawn.

Humpy tried valiantly but soon a two-pawn deficit in the end game proved too much. She did delay the inevitable but eventually accepted defeat.

Tan appeared resigned to her fate against Lagno but kept making the moves in the hope of her rival getting it wrong. In a completely winning position, Lagno misplayed a bishop and Tan responded with a precise queen-move to draw equality. Thereafter, Lagno did not get another chance and Tan’s resilience stood rewarded.

Anna, too, made Lei suffer for the better part of the game without getting more than a draw. Like Lagno, Anna too overlooked a simple winning plan and let Lei escape with half-a-point.