Vaishali, Tan Still Perfect As Anna Muzychuk Takes Down Zhu

GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Tan Zhongyi lead the 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix on a perfect 2/2 after beating IMs Lela Javakhishvili and Olga Badelka in round two. The most significant clash of the round, meanwhile, saw GM Anna Muzychuk beat her rival as potential winner of the Grand Prix series, GM Zhu Jiner, who has now lost holdable endgames in 96 and 95 moves in consecutive rounds. There was also heartbreak for GM Nana Dzagnidze, who let GM Alexandra Kosteniuk escape with a 72-move draw. 

Round three starts on Thursday, May 8, at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CEST / 6:30 p.m. IST.

A fantastic day of fighting chess saw three decisive games, and no quick draws.

Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 2 Results

Tan and Vaishali are the early leaders on 2/2, while Anna Muzychuk has moved into sole third place. Zhu, the winner of the previous two Grand Prix events, finds herself in a very unfamiliar last place on 0/2.

Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix Standings After Round 2

The closest we came to an uneventful draw in round two was in the clash between IM Nurgyul Salimova and former Women's World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya managed to win a pawn, but the closed position with opposite-colored bishops made it hard to convert into tangible winning chances. Instead, we got a draw by three-fold repetition on move 35.

The other draw was a rollercoaster clash between Dzagnidze and Kosteniuk, with the Georgian star winning the opening battle. Kosteniuk rolled the dice with a bold exchange sac which wasn't entirely sound but eventually led to equality, only to slip into trouble again. Dzagnidze was on the verge of victory, but 66.h5? was the right idea played one move too soon. Kosteniuk pounced to rescue a draw!

The remaining games were all decisive.  

Javakhishvili 0-1 Vaishali

Vaishali won the smoothest game of round one and then did exactly the same in round two, saying afterward, "I was prepared until some point and I think it was very smooth." The point the Indian grandmaster was prepared up to was move 16, and in what followed, it was always Black who was pressing at little risk. Nevertheless, it was only move 30, and especially 31.Rb1?, that allowed Vaishali to pounce with the brilliant trick 31...Nc1!!.  

"We’re just starting the tournament and it feels good to play some good chess, so I’m just feeling good!" said Vaishali, who's moved up to 13th on the live rating list.

Former Women's World Champion Tan is back up to fifth, though it was a little bumpy along the way! 

Tan 1-0 Badelka

It could easily have been Badelka who moved to 2/2 after Tan thought for five minutes and played the brazen move 15.Qd2??.

Perhaps Badelka trusted that her illustrious opponent must have calculated the consequences of 15...Rxf3! 16.gxf3 Qxh2+ and been satisfied with the resulting position, but it turns out it's as bad for White as it looks.

Instead, however, Badelka played 15...Bd7? and after 16.h3! the sacrifice on f3 had lost its sting. Badelka still played it, and Tan gradually built up an edge, but there were twists and turns until 38...a3?, played in mutual time trouble, was the last straw. Tan was easily able to deal with the a-pawn while building up a mating attack on the black king.

Tan can't win the overall Grand Prix series, since GM Aleksandra Goryachkina is too many points ahead, but she can still finish in second place and qualify for the 2026 Women's Candidates Tournament.  

In the final game of the day, meanwhile, we saw two players who can both still win the overall series.

Anna Muzychuk 1-0 Zhu

Zhu had sailed through her first two Grand Prix events, finishing both tied for first place, but the third got off to a nightmare start. She cracked at the end and lost in 96 moves to Tan in round one, and is now on 0/2 after losing to her other main rival, Anna Muzychuk—in just one move less.

It was a tough game for both players, with Anna almost letting her opponent escape, and commenting: "It’s always painful if you’re not winning a winning position. In this game, I managed to not win two times, but eventually I won!"

The endgame that ultimately arose was one a computer holds effortlessly, but that was torture to play for a human, and even though Zhu had much more time on her clock, she couldn't avoid slipping to defeat.

That win could prove crucial for Anna Muzychuk, and it could also have Goryachkina looking on nervously, since only if Anna wins sole first place is her Candidates spot no longer guaranteed.

For Zhu, meanwhile, all is far from lost. She's faced her two toughest rivals and still has seven rounds to recover—if she finishes third in Austria, she wins the Grand Prix series regardless of other results.

Round 3 Pairings

Zhu will have White against Salimova, while the two leaders face tough tests—Vaishali takes on Dzagnidze while Tan is Black against Kosteniuk.

How to watch?

The 2025 Grosslobming FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the sixth and final leg of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs May 6-15 in Grosslobming, Austria. Players have 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20+ players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.

Previous Coverage:

• Round 1: Tan Zhongyi Stuns Zhu Jiner To Boost Candidates Chances
• Humpy Wins Pune Women's Grand Prix, Zhu Closes On Candidates
• Anna Muzychuk Wins Cyprus Grand Prix On Tiebreaks
• Goryachkina Wins In Monaco, Takes FIDE Women's Grand Prix Lead
• Goryachkina Wins Shymkent FIDE Women's Grand Prix
• Kashlinskaya Wins Tbilisi Grand Prix, Earns 2nd GM Norm
• FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-2025: All The Info