Women's World Championship, Round 2 Tiebreaks
They're down to the final 16, five of whom are from China. They have been dominating the event so far, while nearly all the Russians are gone. Five of the six Russians were defeated in "regular time" and the sixth, defending world champ Alexandra Kosteniuk, only made it through on tiebreaks. Other tiebreak winners include Kateryna Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte and Almira Skripchenko (the latter two will face off in round 3). Among those biting the dust today was former champion Antoaneta Stefanova, who lost to Huang Qian. Another "category" of interest is "Muzychuk", and this is a successful one so far: the sisters Anna and Maria both made it to round 3. If they win their next matches, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that one is guaranteed to make the semi-finals, and the bad news is that one is guaranteed to go home.
Here are the round 3 pairings, in bracket order:
Kosteniuk - Ruan Lufei
Koneru - Zatonskih (tough pairing for the last American)
Hou Yifan - Zhu Chen
Zhao Xue - Yelena Dembo
Viktoria Cmilyte - Almira Skripchenko
Katerina Lahno - Huang Qian
Anna Muzychuk - Ju Wenjun
Dronavalli - Maria Muzychuk (the former, while overshadowed by her countrywoman Koneru is the fourth highest-rated player remaining in the draw)
Tournament site here.
Reader Comments (1)
Another Russian remaining in the event is Morozevich (he is Zhu Chen's second).
[DM: And as a bonus he doesn't live in the US or compete for the Swiss Championship. On the other hand, he's 0-3 against me in blitz, so maybe Russia shouldn't be too proud of him.]