In the decisive games, Goryachkina’s opponent was the little-known Nurgyul Salimova from Bulgaria.
This 20-year-old girl is not even a great teacher yet, but “just” an international teacher! In the world ranking, she closes the fourth ten, and was known to a narrow circle of fans of the old game only because a few months ago she played in an open tournament in Baku, where she scored six points out of a possible nine in competition with the men.
Two years ago, Goryachkina also played in the FIDE World Cup final, losing in two games to Kosteniuk.
And such a success – the game in the final against Alexandra Goryachkina, whom Salimova calls her chess authority.
The first game, in which the Russians had white pieces, ended in a draw. Commenting on the result of the duel, grandmaster Sergei Shipov noted that Goryachkina had gained an advantage several times, but immediately lost it. Nurgyul managed to confuse his opponent and led the game to a peaceful outcome.
“In this case, Goryachkina simply lacked character, will and awareness of her own dignity. This is very unfortunate, because she is an outstanding chess player. A great talent. But some of her decisions do not fit into any framework. She with options muddy. And instead of an easy and smooth victory, he decided to fight for a draw. This is his choice. Black had no chess ideas. This is a rebound from computer preparations, a psychological one, “Shipov summed up during streaming online.
In the second game, Goryachkina and Salimova had options. A draw left both contenders with a chance to win in a playoff that, according to the rules, was scheduled for Monday. But the Russian athlete did not really like this result, and she methodically increased her advantage. The computer recognized Alexandra’s position as more advantageous, but Goryachkina again made a mistake and put herself in danger. At the time of signing the “RG” edition on paper, the meeting continued.
