Women’s Candidates Chess: Anna Muzychuk forces tie-breakers after beating Humpy in last game

Koneru Humpy lost to Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the fourth and final classical game in the quarterfinal of the FIDE Women’s Candidates chess tournament at Monte Carlo.

Koneru Humpy (left) playing Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the last game of their quarterfinal match at the Women’s Candidates tournament at Monte Carlo.  | Photo Credit: FIDE

A draw would have taken her to the semifinals, but Koneru Humpy lost to Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the fourth and final classical game in the quarterfinal of the FIDE Women’s Candidates chess tournament at Monte Carlo on Saturday.

That levelled the score at 2-2, and the match will now be decided in tie-breakers. China’s Lei Tingjie, however, qualified for the semifinals, at the expense of Anna’s younger sister Maria Muzychuk; their game was drawn, with the Chinese winning the match 2.5-1.5.

Humpy’s hopes of a draw received a setback when she erred -- from an equal position with black pieces in their Petrov’s Defence game – with her unwise ‘c’ pawn push on the 22nd move. But 11 moves later, Anna’s mistake brought Humpy back to the game.

The Ukrainian, however, soon got the advantage back with an exchange sacrifice and forced her Indian rival to resign on the 58th move.