Smagin commented on the performance of Russian chess players at the tournament in Astana

Vice-President of the Moscow Chess Federation Sergey Smagin noted that the tournament ended with a confident victory of the Russian chess player Ekaterina Lagno.

Recall that Lagno scored 8 points out of 11, another representative of Russia, Alexandra Goryachkina, was half a point behind. A little short of the bronze medal was the former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, at the finish she has 6 points and fourth place.

“A very good result, the first two places, what could be better? Sasha Kosteniuk was not so far away, although she held an uneven tournament. Polina Shuvalova’s result is a little out of place (last place, 4 points), but I rather sin not on the game, but on nervousness. She played interesting, but she allowed a lot of atypical yawns for top players, she need to work on it, understand what’s the matter, the game did not match the result, it is clear that at some point it began to fall apart.”

“I was especially pleased with Lagno, who went the distance super professionally, did not take any risks anywhere, took all her points on the case, outwardly took the first place very easily. Of course, their performance and results give them an excellent chance of qualifying for the candidates tournament. There are no special fears for them, they will be in the first roles anyway,”- Smagin said.