Anna Muzychuk through to semifinals

Humpy errs in the fourth game of the tie-breaker

Koneru Humpy erred fatally from an equal position in the fourth game of the tie-breaker and lost to Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine in the FIDE Women’s Candidates chess tournament at Monte Carlo on Sunday.

The tie-breakers had to be employed as the scores were level at 2-2 at the end of four classical games. The first three games in the tie-breaker, played in the rapid format, were also drawn.

In the fourth game things were even until Humpy, with black pieces, made her 16th move. Her decision to take her bishop to the ‘d2’ square proved too costly. It was a blunder. She lost a piece and resigned a couple of moves later.

The other quarterfinal in the pool had been decided a day earlier, with China’s Lei Tingjie defeating Anna’s younger sister Maria Muzychuk; the former had won the match 2.5-1.5.

The semifinal match between Lei Tingjie and Anna Muzychuk will be played from November 1.