20-year-old female chess player enters World Cup chess final

August 18, 2023 11:29

20-year-old Nurgyul Salimova is not yet a Grandmaster but caused a surprise when she reached the final of the Women's Chess World Cup against Aleksandra Goryachkina.

Salimova, with an Elo rating of 2,409, is the only International Master (IM) in the semi-finals, as the other three players have all achieved the highest title of Grandmaster (GM). Although only ranked 47th in the world, the 20-year-old female player surprised everyone when she eliminated former world runner-up Anna Muzychuk (2,504) with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the rapid chess tie-break on August 17.

Salimova (trái) trong ván đấu Anna Muzychuk tại World Cup cờ vua nữ ở Baku, Azerbaijan ngày 16/8/2023. Ảnh: FIDE

Salimova drew with Muzychuk in two standard games on August 15 and 16, forcing the two players to play a rapid chess tie-break. In the first rapid game, the young Bulgarian sacrificed his rook to create a checkmate trap and won. The 33-year-old Ukrainian showed off his former world number two skills in the endgame and equalized.

In the third rapid game, Salimova won again with a rook sacrifice to create a checkmate trap and capture the queen. This time Muzychuk could not come back, accepting defeat 2.5-3.5 in the semifinals.

Salimova, 20, was the 2015 European U12 and World Champion. On her way to the final, she defeated six opponents, including two from the world's Top 15, Muzychuk and Polina Shuvalova. The victory also secured Salimova a place in the 2024 Candidates - the tournament that will select the challenger to Chess Queen Ju Wenjun. Ju Wenjun had previously been eliminated in the round of 16 of the World Cup.

Salimova từng là á quân Bulgaria dù thi đấu cùng các kỳ thủ nam. Ảnh: IGNV — *Salimova was runner-up in Bulgaria despite playing with male players.*

Salimova's opponent in the final is 25-year-old Goryachkina (2,557) - the runner-up in the previous round. Goryachkina is considered a chess prodigy, having won the U10, U14 and U18 world championships. She played in the women's world chess final against Cu in 2020, but lost in the tie-break.

The Women's Chess World Cup final takes place over three days, starting with a standard chess game at 6pm on Saturday, August 19, Hanoi time.

In the Open group, the two semi-final pairs have also been determined: Magnus Carlsen - Nijat Abasov and Fabiano Caruana - Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Since Carlsen does not want to reclaim the Chess Champion title, Abasov, Caruana and Praggnanandhaa are considered to have secured their places in the 2024 Candidates.

According to VnExpress