You may recall that the Group A portion of the Women’s Candidates ended some time ago, with Tingjie Lei first defeating Mariya Muzychuk and then Anna Muzychuk in best-of-four game matches to qualify for the final Candidates match against the winner of Group B. We’re in the middle of that battle now.
The first round of matches have finished, with each winner advancing on the strength of a single decisive game. In the battle of Russians (er, “FIDE” players, as P*tin’s sins have reduced the players’ country to that-place-which-shall-not-be-named-on-official-documents), Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk 2.5-1.5 while Zhongyi Tan of China edged out a victory against Ukrainian ex-pat and current Russian Kateryna Lagno, 4.5-3.5. Goryachkina was better in games 1 and 2 before finally breaking through in game 3, but Lagno had all kinds of chances against Tan. Lagno had good winning chances in round 3, and then in the four-game playoff she lost in game 5 but was completely winning in game 7 and certainly winning in game 8 as well.
It’s therefore Goryachkina vs. Tan in the Group B final, and game 1 finished in a long draw. Tan, with Black, was winning for a while but didn’t manage to put her opponent away in a queen and minor piece ending. The winner of this match will go on to play Tingjie Lei, and the winner of that match will face women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, also of China.