Valentina Gunina emerged as the winner of the second leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix and picked up 12 GP points. In the final match, she took revenge on Anna Ushenina, to whom she had lost the previous Leg 1 final match.  Ushenina earned 8 points for her runner-up finish and tied for the overall lead in the series with Gunina.

Going into the bullet portion of the final match against Ushenina, Gunina who was playing at a higher tempo, had the lead 4.5-3.5. Most likely the Russian GM was quite optimistic about her chances as she is known for her prowess in the fastest time controls.

The Ukrainian GM was close to bouncing back in the first bullet game as was up an exchange but missed a perpetual check. In the next game, Anna went from bad to worse as she blundered a queen. Valentina extended the lead to 6-4 with just 4 minutes to go. A smashing attack by Gunina in the next game pretty much decided the match in her favor as there was no comeback from 4-7. However, Ushenina scored a consolation goal in the last game to finish it on 5-7.

“For me, the final match was just like one minute. I even can’t remember what was going on… I like how I played all these matches and I am really happy to win in the final because I lost the previous match. I am really, really happy.” Valentina said in a short interview after the final.

In the match for third place, Kateryna Lagno did not give any chance to  Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, convincingly defeated her opponent 9.5-2.5, and collected 6 GP points. For her efforts, Sarasadat received 5 GP points.

FIDE Chess.com WSCC Grand Prix - Standings after Leg 2