GM Kateryna Lagno defeated defending champion, GM Hou Yifan, within the ultimate of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship on Friday. The dedication and attacking types of those two grandmasters made this match a riveting duel of minds with the consequence undecided till the final sport. 

Blitz 5|1: Hou 4.5-4.5 Lagno 

🖱️ GM Lagno’s mouse slip second! 👇 #speedchess pic.twitter.com/ozmu9NKFec

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) September 2, 2022

Lagno performed a positional masterpiece in sport seven, sacrificing an trade to take over the darkish squares and sink her knights into the highly effective d4- and c5-outposts.

In the center of this phase, Lagno was disconnected for a couple of minutes mid-game. In a present of sportsmanship, Hou agreed to offer her opponent again two minutes within the sport in progress, however disconnection in the course of this important match was nonetheless jarring on Lagno. In the subsequent couple of video games, she faltered—and, within the final sport, Hou tied the rating with an attacking miniature. 

Blitz 3|1:  Hou 5.5-4.5 Lagno 

Bullet 1|1: Hou 3-6 Lagno 

In the post-match interview, Lagno shared the background on this victory and the way her husband, GM Alexander Grischuk, helped along with her prep. 

Soon, Lagno pulled right into a commanding lead with a three-game profitable streak. This put Hou in a must-win place for 3 video games in a row. Would the reigning champion have the ability to tie the match in time to set off a playoff?

Hou pulled out victories from the primary two hard-fought, pressure-laden video games, together with the primary when she received a difficult rook ending in an intense time scramble. 

As the final seconds of the match clock ticked away, the gamers started the final all-or-nothing sport. Hou wanted a victory to push the match into an armageddon tiebreaker whereas Lagno would clinch the championship with a win or a draw.

Lagno sacrificed a pawn for stress towards her opponent’s king, however Hou held on, and the gamers traded into a sophisticated endgame. In specializing in making an attempt to press for a win in any respect prices, Hou let her time get too low. As commentator Kosteniuk perceptively exclaimed, “This endgame is loopy, simply do not run out of time!”

This endgame is loopy, simply do not run out of time!

-Kosteniuk

Lagno’s victory was well-earned. She fought by way of explosive attacking positions, wild time scrambles, mouse slips, and connectivity hassle to edge out the highest-ranked lady on the planet. 

In her post-game interview, Lagno shared her emotions on the match, particularly her battle to reorient herself after the connectivity situation: “Everything was fairly good from the beginning, however then I acquired disconnected, and in some way I simply could not put myself collectively after that. I perceive that occurs to Chinese gamers very often, however I used to be like: ‘Not as we speak! Not now!’ And then… it was at all times a really shut match.”

Lagno earned $9,214.29 in prize cash for this victory and a complete of $20,860.11 within the total occasion. Hou received $2,785.71 from this match, totaling $14,399.85.

All Games – Finals