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Russia’s Goryachkina says 'luck was on her side' in winning 2023 Women’s World Chess Cup

According to Alexandra Goryachkina, the playing strength is not very important at the World Cup

BAKU, August 22. /TASS/. The level of playing strength is not that important at the Chess World Cup tournaments because a lot simply depends on one’s luck, Russian chess player Alexandra Goryachkina told TASS on Tuesday.

On August 21, Goryachkina won the 2023 Women’s World Chess Cup in Baku, defeating Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria.

"My second dream came true and it was to win the World Chess Cup. Because, it seems to me, that the playing strength is not very important at the World Cup," she said in an interview with TASS.

"One should be accompanied by luck here and everything should fall into place. Luck never depends on you. This time, luck was on my side," she added.

The Russian chess player, who participated in the tournament under a neutral status, advanced to the final of the 2023 Women’s World Chess Cup semifinals in Azerbaijan after finishing her second semifinals match against China's Tan Zhongyi with a draw on August 16.

The final round’s first match took place on August 19 with Goryachkina and Salimova playing to a stalemate. The next day, the two players once again finished their game in a draw.

In the tie-breaking game on August 21, Goryachkina played black pieces but once again, the encounter finished in a draw. In the other tie-breaking face-off with Salimova which took place later that day, Goryachkina moved the white pieces and took the win.

Goryachkina also said that she was not used to so much attention from fans and felt a bit uneasy playing at the World Chess Cup in Baku.

"I’m not on social networks and never go on the internet during tournaments to read something online," she said.

"I have seen my fans only here, live in person. There were a lot of them and I am not accustomed to such attention. It was even a little uncomfortable," Russia’s new World Cup champion noted.

This was Goryachkina’s second appearance in the final of the World Chess Cup as she previously faced Russia’s Alexandra Kostenyuk in 2021, eventually losing to her.

The bronze medal of the 2023 Women’s World Chess Cup went to Ukrainian chess player Anna Muzychuk after she defeated former World Champion Tan Zhongyi of China.

The 2023 Women's Chess World Cup was a 103-player single-elimination chess tournament, the second edition of the Women's Chess World Cup, and it took place in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku between July 29 and August 22.

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