In May Narva from Estonia convincingly triumphed in the second qualifying match of the Julius Baer Women’s Rapid Chess Championship 2024 by winning the knockout phase of the second play-in after defeating WFM Hong Nhung Nguyen from Vietnam in the final by a score of 3.5:0.5.
Although IM Eline Roebers from the Netherlands dominated the Swiss part, she lost a turbulent semifinal match to Nhung Nguyen in the Armageddon tiebreak 4:3. Narva defeated top seeded GM Zhu Jin’er from China 3.5:1.5 in the other semifinal.
The next qualifier for the event, Play-in 3, will take place on Wednesday, August 15, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.
Julius Baer Women’s Rapid Chess Championship, Play-In 2: KO
Julius Baer Women’s Rapid Chess Championship, Play-In 2: Swiss System
Early in the day, commentators IM Jovanka Houska and GM Judit Polgar introduced a crucial word that would dominate the proceedings: “turnaround.” During the Swiss and Knockout phases of the tournament, viewers witnessed the first climax as players reached their final half-minutes. No matter how hard players had worked to gain an advantage – material or positional – in the final minute they lost control of the position and were free to play whatever moves came to mind, or worse, their mice. Then came turnarounds that helped the defending side draw level or even win the game.
This rollercoaster style of play was the constant theme of the day, especially in Roebers’ games, right up to the thrilling Armageddon evening in the semi-finals. Although it was exciting for the spectators, the losers will surely have unpleasant memories for a long, long time.
Play-In Swiss 2
Unlike the first qualifying match, there were not too many dramatic twists in the first rounds of the Swiss system, at least not in the matches of the elite players. Instead, there were many interesting finals. One of the The game of the stars of the first Play-In, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk against GM Natalia Zhukova, was characterized by an interesting endgame with opposite-colored bishops.
There was another interesting opposite-colored bishop endgame between IM Gulnar Mammadova from Azerbaijan and Hong Nhung.
Narva tricked the impressive IM Karina Ambartsumova in the third game in a deceptive-looking rook endgame.
This tricky king and pawn endgame prompted commentator Polgar to remark: “Pawn endgames can be fun. And they can be very frustrating!”
Pawn endgames can be fun. And they can be very frustrating!
—Judit Polgar
Although she lost to Jin’er and Roebers during the tournament, she came from a lost position to win a decisive victory against Mammadova in the last round, with a typical turnaround in the middlegame.
Roebers dominated the Swiss tournament with many combative games. Her game against Narva in the seventh round was a wonderful tactical battle in which Noebers was clearly losing at one point but managed a great turnaround in a tactical skirmish that followed a complex endgame.
Jin’er has a typically tough style, playing long games and typically tough endgames. Her win over nine-year-old WFM Bodhana Sivanandan of England in the third round was typical of her style. Both players made mistakes, which is inevitable in the final seconds of a 3+1 time control. However, Jin’er showed excellent resourcefulness.
Bodhana played an excellent tournament and even managed to reach the top board in the last round against Roebers, but lost.
The other finalist, Nhung Nguyen, has an attractive tactical style. Her ability to identify tactical resources was the best part of her game.
Play-In Knockout 2
Unlike the first qualifier, both the semifinals and the final were hard fought and it is impossible to describe all the fights in detail, so I present to you the most impressive match from each match of the Knockout phase.
We are close to being knocked out! https://t.co/5sjC7UObEd #FastChess pic.twitter.com/qcePH6ZVAk
— chess24 (@chess24com) 14 August 2024
Semi-final: Narva – Jin’er
Narva started the match hesitantly, drawing the first game and losing the second by dropping a whole rook. But she won the next three games in a row to advance to the final. Her best performance came in the fourth game of the match, where she convincingly outplayed Jin’er.
Semifinal: Nhung Nguyen – Roebers
This was an electrifying match, with Nhung Nguyen leading 3-2 after the first game of the 1+1 section. In the last game of the match, Roebers seemed to be in a completely lost position, with her queen in the most inactive position reachable on the board.
Put yourself in Roebers’ shoes – would you have the courage to fight for that position? Roebers made an admirable comeback and even won the game in the end.
In view of Noeber’s ingenuity in this game, Polgar exclaimed: “It’s Eline’s day!”
It’s Eline’s day!
—Judit Polgar
Eline Roebers catches a queen, but she has not won the game: “The most painful game of the day so far!” (Judit Polgar) https://t.co/m3dFVo7jSX pic.twitter.com/XXrSIuL9XZ
— chess24 (@chess24com) 14 August 2024
However, Roeber’s ingenuity finally ended in the Armageddon game, where she had to win with the white pieces. Nhung Nguyen played effectively, scored a win and moved into the final.
Final: Narva – Nhung Nguyen
Narva’s handling of her openings was an important feature of her playing strength, especially when she moved the h-pawn down the file. This curious factor enabled her to win two important games. The very first game of the match was marked by an unfortunate mistake by Nhung Nguyen in an otherwise equal position. She never recovered from this setback and eventually lost the match with a score of 0.5-3.5.
Polgar commented on Nhung Nguyen’s blunder: “One moment of madness and the whole house collapses for Black!”
The Julius Baer Women’s Speed Chess Championship is a Chess.com event featuring some of the world’s strongest female chess players competing for a prize fund of $75,000. The main event will feature 16 players competing in a single-elimination format in 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time control matches. Four spots will go to the winners of four play-ins, which will be held August 12-16 and are open to all titleholders. In each play-in, the top four players will qualify for a Swiss-based single-elimination tournament.
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