Nurgyul Salimova started her participation in the Grand Prix tournament in the Kazakh city of Shymkent with a loss.
In the game of the first round, Salimova conceded with the white pieces to the home representative Bibisara Asaubayeva after 42 moves of play. Salimova had a promising position after the debut, but made several unsuccessful moves and the initiative passed to Asaubayeva’s side. Then the chess player from Kazakhstan got an extra pawn, pressured the Bulgarian and made her surrender in the endgame.
In the second round, which is on Thursday, Salimova will meet Greece’s Stavroulou Tsolakidou, who started with a black-piece win over Mongolia’s Bathuyag Munguntuul.
The tournament in Shymkent is the second of a total of six in the Grand Prix circuit, in which 20 of the strongest female chess players in the world participate. Each of them must play in three of these tournaments to have a chance to qualify for the World Title Contenders Tournament.
The ten participants in the competition in Shymkent will share a total prize fund of 80,000 euros.
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