Estonia's Mai Narva stuns world No. 4 Zhu to win Mozambique chess tournament
Estonian chess player Mai Narva defeated Chinese grandmaster Zhu Jiner in both the rapid and blitz finals of the WR Women's Chess Tour event in Maputo, Mozambique, taking both titles.
Top Estonian chess player Mai Narva has won both the rapid and blitz titles at the WR Women's Chess Tour event held in Maputo, Mozambique, after defeating Chinese grandmaster Zhu Jiner in both finals.
Narva, ranked 40th in the world in women's classical chess with a rating of 2405 and 40th in rapid chess with 2352, opened her run by beating three-time African junior champion Lina Nassr of Algeria 2-0 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she defeated five-time African women's champion Shrook Wafa of Egypt 1.5-0.5.
In the rapid final, Narva faced Zhu, who ranks fourth in the world in classical chess with a rating of 2550 and sixth in rapid chess with 2470. Narva drew the first game while playing white, then won the second game playing black to clinch overall victory.
The Estonian went on to beat Zhu again in the blitz final, this time by a score of 3-2, completing a sweep of both titles in the same city within the same week.
The top two players in the combined rapid and blitz standings will qualify for the WR Women's Chess Tour series final in Stuttgart at the end of November. The tour's next stop is the European leg in Saint-Tropez.
