Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Bouncing Back
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024/25 consisted of six tournaments played according to the round-robin system. A total of 21 players take part in the Grand Prix, but only 10 in each event. And each participant could only compete in three of those tournaments. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes from move 40. There was 30-second increment from move 1. The fourth leg of the Grand Prix took place in Nicosia, Cyprus from March 15 to 24. The Grand Prix granted the top two finishers spots in the FIDE Women Candidates Tournament 2026. Players who wanted to classify for the Candidates needed to perform well in the Grand Prix. But risky play and stress play also a role and participants are not exempt from making mistakes.
GM Harika Dronavalli has bad luck in round 5 where she mixed moves and reached a bad position after only 6 moves. But in round 6 she bounced back and her game against GM Nana Dzagnidze was a real tough fight.
From her bad experience in round 5, Harika explained that learned the following lesson: “I realized the game is cruel so I can’t be friendly. I just have to fight it out. If I lost, I have to try to win. That’s what I’m trying to learn, to have this fighting spirit, not to be too sympathetic about others, because then I get into a situation to suffer. So I’m trying not to mix emotions, people, and chess. That’s what I learned from the game which I lost!”
Her game was certainly an intense fight. After middlegame sharp tactics Harika managed to earn a knight and bishop in exchange for a rook. However the endgame was level. But after 4,5 hours of play and 56 moves, the following position arose on the board.
With her careless move, Dzagnidze allowed her opponent to trap the rook. Dzagnidze resigned few moves later. A combination of tiredness, panic, and time pressure can only explain Dzagnidze’s mistake. Those blunders are devastating in competitions that demand a high level of effectiveness.
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