Julia Osmak wins 11th Sharjah International Cup for Women Online Final

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/01/2021

IM Julia Osmak wins 11th Sharjah International Cup for Women Online Final. She scored 7.0/9 and finished a half point ahead of the competition. Three Indian women qualified to the Final stage. Out of them IM Bhakti Kulkarni made a fantastic start taking sole lead with 4.5/5, however she suffered three consecutive losses and finished 12th with 5.0/9. WIM Vantika Agrawal was the highest performing Indian, scoring 5.5/9 and finished at 10th place. IM Padmini Rout is the only other Indian in the Final, she was placed 20th with 4.5/9. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vantika finishes tenth

Three Indian women - IM Bhakti Kulkarni, IM Padmini Rout and WIM Vantika Agrawal qualified to the Final of 11th Sharjah International Cup for Women Online. Bhakti had a fantastic start taking the sole lead with 4.5/5, but she lost the next three rounds and finished 12th. Vantika scored 5.5/9 to finish 10th, highest among Indian women.

Vantika was the highest finisher among Indians

Vantika started the Finals with a solid draw against the in-form World Junior 2019 girls champion and recently concluded Russian Superfinals runner-up IM Polina Shuvalova.

The FIDE Online Olympiad 2020 Gold medalist scored her best win of the event against WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova in Round 6.

Gulrukhbegim - Vantika, Round 6

Position after 31...f6

In an already difficult position, black played 31...f6 which only made things worse for her.

Position after 33...Bxb5

33...Bxb5 is a tactical error. Find out why.

Vantika was completely winning the endgame in the penultimate round against IM Nataliya Buksa. Due to time trouble, she settled for a draw.

Buksa - Vantika, Round 8

Position after 47.Ne4

Find out the winning plan for black after 47.Ne4

Vantika may have suffered two losses but she played really well

Replay all Vantika's games

IM Julia Osmak defeated three-time World Blitz Women's champion GM Kateryna Lagno in the fourth round showing a fantastic technique to convert her advantage.

She went on to win against former Women's World champion and the eventual runner-up of the event GM Antoaneta Stefanova.

Julia Osmak played fantastic to win the tournament, earned $1000 and a full board to Sharjah Cup 2022 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Replay all Osmak's games

Reigning National Women's champion, FIDE Online Olympiad and Asian Online Nations Cup Gold medalist IM Bhakti Kulkarni made a brilliant start and took a sole lead with 4.5/5. In the fifth round, she beat GM Monika Socko to take the sole lead.

Then she lost three consecutive rounds and finished 12th with 5.0/9.

Bhakti Kulkarni had a brilliant start but three consecutive losses cost her dearly

Bhakti made a perfect start

Replay all Bhakti's games

IM Padmini Rout was the only other Indian to have qualified to the Finals and she finished at 20th place | Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

The tournament took place in two stages - Preliminary and Final. Total 483 women all across the world participated in the Preliminary Stage. It was a 13-round event with a time control of 3 minutes + 1 second per move. Top 25 players qualified from the Qualifiers and 10 players were given wild cards. The Final was a nine-round event played with a time control 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move.