Nicosia GP: Shake up at the top as Zhu regains the sole lead

by Michael Rahal
3/23/2025 – Round 7 of the Women's Grand Prix in Nicosia saw three decisive games and a new leader emerge. Olga Badelka stunned Anna Muzychuk with a fierce attacking game, allowing Zhu Jiner to take the lead after her win against Divya Deshmukh. Nana Dzagnidze also bounced back, defeating Stavroula Tsolakidou with the black pieces. | Photos: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
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Badelka takes down Anna Muzychuk

Press release by FIDE

The shortest round of the tournament featured three decisive results and the emergence of a new leader. In a surprising turn of events, Olga Badelka defeated Anna Muzychuk in a spectacular attacking game, allowing Zhu Jiner to claim the top spot with her victory over Divya Deshmukh. Nana Dzagnidze also returned to a positive score, taking down Stavroula Tsolakidou with the black pieces.

The ceremonial first move was made in the game between Zhu Jiner and Divya Deshmukh. Former Women's World Champion and current FIDE Treasurer Zhu Chen played the first move for Zhu Jiner, while FIDE Vice-President Joran Aulin Jansson did the honours for Divya.

Let's take a closer look at the five games.

Round 7 results

Zhu Chen

Zhu Chen playing the first move in Zhu Jiner v. Divya Deshmukh

Elisabeth Paehtz ½–½ Aleksandra Goryachkina

Although players cannot agree to a draw before move forty, they can bypass this rule with a threefold repetition - exactly what happened in the first game to finish this afternoon.

Both Elisabeth and Aleksandra ended the game with more time than they had at the start, indicating they were content with an eleven-move draw.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix

The final position

Harika Dronavalli ½–½ Mariya Muzychuk

The second game to finish also ended in a draw, but in this case, it was hard-fought. Muzychuk played a rather new move (7…c4) in the London System, achieving a very solid position.

After the exchange of queens, there was not much to play for in the ending, and a threefold repetition on move twenty-eight sealed the result. Both players achieved a 99% accuracy score – a testament to the high-level displayed in the encounter.

Mariya Muzychuk

Mariya Muzychuk

Olga Badelka 1-0 Anna Muzychuk

The upset of the day! Refreshed from the village outing on the free day, Olga Badelka seems to be having the time of her life. After holding Goryachkina to a draw yesterday, Olga played a game for the ages, defeating leader Anna Muzychuk with a ferocious attack out of a Colle-Zukertort System.

"It's better to win late than never" were her first words in the post-game interview. "I had a [much-needed] rest on the free day with the mountain excursion to the village, and I am still trying to find my focus", continued Olga.

The key moment of the game occurred on move fifteen.

Moment of the day

Muzychuk has just played 14…Ne4 intending to exchange the knights after 15.cxd5 Nxd2. However, Badelka is not forced to recapture, and instead she spotted a nice intermezzo 16.dxe6! with a massive attack that ultimately proved decisive.

When asked about Muzychuk's blunder 14…Ne4, Badelka responded:

Maybe she wasn't happy with the outcome of the opening: she had already spent half an hour and maybe she wanted to simplify things quickly, but it wasn't to be.

Zhu Jiner 1–0 Divya Deshmukh

Shortly after Badelka had won her game, Zhu Jiner confirmed her excellent moment of form in the tournament by defeating Divya Deshmukh in great style.

Divya opted for her signature French Defence, against which Zhu Jiner chose the Steinitz Variation with an early 10.dxc5. Divya took some time to respond and soon ended up in a difficult position. However, according to the engine, she could have turned the tables with the tricky 21…e5 instead of 21…b3?, after which Zhu Jiner didn't give her a second chance.

Zhu Jiner explained in her post-game interview:

I just tried to focus on myself and try my best to play. I didn't see too much about the other results.

During the interview, Zhu Jiner showed us how she would have been forced to use an under-promotion to a knight to win the game if Divya hadn't resigned!

Stavroula Tsolakidou 0–1 Nana Dzagnidze

The final game to finish saw a completely recovered Nana Dzagnidze defeating Stavroula Tsolakidou with the black pieces.

Stavroula essayed a secondary line against Dzagnidze's trusted Sicilian Taimanov, which promised a very chaotic position with attacking chances for both sides. However, it seemed that Dzagnidze was very comfortable in the complications – an unlucky choice for Stavroula, who never found her form in the game.

According to the engine, sacrificing the exchange with 18.Bf2 didn't offer enough compensation, and the follow-up was just not enough to trouble Dzagnidze's king.

The Georgian GM wrapped up the game with ease, happy to have left behind yesterday's blunder against Harika.

Nana Dzagnidze

Nana Dzagnidze

Standings

All games

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Born in England in 1970, Michael Rahal is an International Master and a FIDE trainer. Currently living in Barcelona (Spain), Michael is fluent in English and Spanish and has been coaching chess players of all ages and levels for more than 25 years. More recently he has developed his career as a chess broadcaster, covering both online and on-site many top events on Playchess and the ICC, including a leg of the recent FIDE Grand Prix. You can also follow him on Youtube where more than 10.000 subscribers enjoy his instructive chess videos.