R. Vaishali and K. Humpy found themselves in different moods but identical goals on the first rest day of the FIDE Women’s Candidates 2024 on Monday.
In four rounds, if Vaishali punched above her weight, Humpy struggled to play to her reputation. Over the next three days, each one will look to improve their strike-rate.
Vaishali is busy adding to her confidence, besides rating points. Having faced the weakest and the strongest in successive rounds, Vaishali beat Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova and produced a gritty draw against top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Unlike Humpy, the seventh seed Vaishali does not carry the pressure of expectations. Each draw against six higher-rated rivals brings her rating points and boosts her self-belief. On her day, Vaishali can emerge stronger than some of these players, like she did during her triumphant campaign in the Grand Swiss last year.
Vaishali plays white in succession against Anna Muzychuk and Kateryna Lagno before sitting behind the black pieces against Lei Tingjie. These rounds are surely going to test Vaishali’s preparedness. No doubt, assisted by regular coach R. B. Ramesh and Sandipan Chanda, Vaishali is capable of gaining some unexpected points.
When 12th seed and eventual champion Vaishali and fifth seeded runner-up Muzychuk played in the Grand Swiss, the result was a draw. On that occasion, too, Vaishali had white pieces.
Meanwhile, Humpy is yet to find her rhythm. Three draws left her feeling a tad desperate and her over-aggressive approach against Salimova led to a loss. But commit no mistake. Humpy has the experience to rebuild her campaign and more than make up for the slow start.
Over the next two days, Humpy has white against Goryachkina and Lei Tingjie before moving to the black side against Muzychuk. She will surely look to score at least two points from these three rounds to get her campaign back on track. Should Humpy reproduce her patient-play and the famous waiting-game, she has the ability to shoot up the standings.
Among others, the two Chinese - defending champion Lei Tingjie and runner-up Tan Zhongyi – were extremely lucky in the fourth round to escape with a draw. It remains to be seen how Lei recharges her campaign and Tan maintains her lead.
The Russian duo of Goryachkina and Lagno are strong enough to do the front-running as one goes deeper into the competition. Anna also fancies her chances while Salimova appears pleased with each draw. Her victory over Humpy was a result of the impetuousness of the Indian veteran but credit to her for not letting her advantage slip.
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