Chess: World No 11, Anish Giri, leads She Plays to Win women to unlikely victory

She Plays to Win Lionesses, the all-female team which won successive promotions to the first division of Britain’s Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) were expected to be outclassed in the top flight, but instead proved the revelation of the opening weekend of the new season.

SPTW wanted to continue without male players in the season’s 2026-27 renewal, but the league stood by its rule, introduced to promote women’s chess, that top division teams must include at least one player of each sex.

SPTW’s manager, IM Lorin D’Costa, who doubles as the England women’s coach, then took the bold step of hiring GM Anish Giri, the Netherlands No 1 and world No 11, for last weekend’s two seasonal opening fixtures. SPTW is a charity whose stated objectives are to help girls and young women play chess.

Giri is the highest rated player to compete in the 4NCL for several seasons. The Netherlands’ top female player, IM Eline Roebers, came as well.

Giri won his opening game in crushing style last Saturday in just 24 moves with a direct attack on GM Alexander Cherniaev’s king. The elite GM had done his homework, for the ex-Russian GM Cherniaev, 57, who learnt his skills in the former Soviet Union, has been vulnerable to tactical slugfests throughout his career.

Roebers also scored, in 26 moves, again with a direct attack on her opponent’s king, but SPTW’s lower boards conceded too many points and Barnet Knights edged the match 4.5-3.5.

The Dutch GM again won effortlessly in last Sunday’s second round after being over an hour ahead on the clock for much of the game, while Roebers won again in 26 moves, with another classy performance.

The outcome was a dominant 6-2 scoreline against another promoted team, The Sharks 2. In terms of game points, which decide the score table positions when match points are equal, She Plays to Win are already well placed compared to the other likely relegation candidates, Sharks 2, White Rose, and Blackthorne. The 4NCL Division 1 has three relegation spots for just 12 teams.

Giri’s international commitments are likely to reduce his appearances. However, SPTW will have Bodhana Sivanandan back for future rounds. The 11-year-old British women’s champion chose to play in the second division of the German Bundesliga last weekend, scoring a draw and an endgame grind win, but will be in action for SPTW Lionesses this Saturday in the European Chess Club Cup for Women in Budva, Montenegro, where she has a chance to complete her qualifications for a female world age record open IM title.

Sivanandan’s declared aim in interviews is to break records as quickly as possible and her 11-round IM norm at the Samarkand Olympiad means that she now needs a 2400 rating plus a seven-round norm at Budva to complete the requirements for the youngest ever female IM. This would break Judit Polgar’s existing record by nearly a year.

It will be difficult, though. Sivanandan’s current live rating is 2389, so she will need a strong result in Budva to have a realistic chance, including at least one win against the rival top boards. SPTW is seeded 12th of 22, so its team could well alternate between losses to the favourites and wins against the weaker teams.

Meanwhile, the annual US Championships are under way in Saint Louis. Fabiano Caruana, the world No 3 and defending champion, is the top seed with the world No 6, Wesley So, his main rival.

After four of the 11 rounds, Caruana and So were joint leaders on 3/4, but round five brought a historic result comparable to Bobby Fischer’s first win against Samuel Reshevsky in 1958.

After 50 US championship games without a single defeat, Caruana lost to 16-year-old Andy Woodward, who shared the lead with So on 3.5/5. Woodward, the instant crown prince of US chess, will compete in next month’s London Classic.

It was a slow positional squeeze in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, where Woodward made subtle use of the pair of bishops. He said afterwards “I think I’m playing pretty well, so hopefully I can continue.”

After two rounds of the US Women’s Championship, the youngest competitor, Megan Paragua, 13, who, like So, has Filipino roots, shared the lead, including a shock victory against the defending champion.

Leading scores after round six (of 11) – Open: So, Woodward, Caruana and Awonder Liang all 4, Jefffrey Xiong 3.5. Women: Rachel Li, Alice Lee and Thalia Cervantes all 4.5, Irina Krush and Megan Paragua 4.

The $250,000 prize fund for the US Championship, plus its various bonuses for high scores, brings into sharp contrast the relatively modest offerings for British tournaments. The English Championships, to be staged at Peterborough from 24 October to 1 November, will offer, even after significantly increased prizes, under £25,000 for its open events.

Generous support from Rex and Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield in the US has made the difference, yet half a century ago England had numerous individual and corporate sponsors, with corresponding success at global levels.

4046: 1 Bh5+! Kxh5 (if 1…Kh6 2 Qxf5 with a speedy mate) 2 g4+! fxg4 3 Rh7+ Kg6 4 Qf7 mate.