R. Vaishali stormed into the semifinals of the first leg of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess, with a crushing victory over Munkhzul Turmunkh of Mongolia. The Chennai girl won 7.5-3.5.
Following the shock exit of World rapid champion Koneru Humpy in the first round, the Indian hopes in this the first of four Grand Prix legs of the tournament rest on Vaishali, who has come through the qualifiers route.
In Friday’s semifinal, Vaishali will take on Anna Ushenina of Ukraine, who defeated Kateryna Lagno of Russia 6-4.
In the other semifinal, an all-Russian affair, Alexander Kosteniuk will meet Valentina Gunina.
Other results (quarterfinals): Kateryna Lagno (Rus) lost to Anna Ushenina (Ukr) 4-6; Alexander Kosteniuk (Rus) bt Le Thao Nguyen Pham (Vie) 7-3; Munkhzul Turmunkh (MGL) lost to R. Vaishali 3.5-7.5; Valentina Gunina (Rus) bt Ju Wenjun (Chn) 7.5-3.5.
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