CHESS#1328

Since the Open World Championship has been covered in detail in the main story, one should look at the rather exciting Women’s World Championships that’s been played out in Ugra, Russia concurrently. 

This is a 64-player knockout with mini-matches. After many vicissitudes, Kateryna Lagno reached the finals. Lagno beat Mariya Muzychuk in the semi-finals in a match that went into tiebreakers, which she won handily with 2-0. 

On the other side of the Wimbledon-type draw, reigning world champion, Ju Wenjun won every  one of her matches without getting involved in tiebreaks. She took out Alexandra Kosteniuk in the semi-finals by