Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia progressed into the quarterfinals of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship 2021 main even after winning a tightly-contested Round of 16 match over Irina Krush (USA).

The Georgian stormed into a lead 4.5:2.5 after the first 5+1 segment and even stretched it to four points at the start of the second 3+1 portion, but Irina found her way back into the match and eventually levelled the score by winning the last game.

The fate of this dramatic match was decided on the best-out-of-four tiebreaker in which things went awry for Krush from the very start as she blundered checkmate in two in a superior position. Catching wind in her Sails Dzagnidze reeled off three more wins and punched her ticket into the quarterfinals.

"My first goal was to make it a competitive match for the fans watching, no one wants to see a total blowout. Obviously, it did not start off the best way for me. I struggled, in a five-minute especially. The important thing was keeping it close as you go into the final portion and then somehow the bullet was working out for me. I was happy to make it close and exciting," said the American player after the match.

The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women's Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000.

Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com's Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com's Events page (https://www.chess.com/events).

More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship can be found here.