The third round casualties - Grandmaster Sergey Shipov reports from Sochi |
The knock-out format is meant to be cruel. Everybody except one gets eliminated, and the pain of losing often outweighs all previous victories. Only a single player, the champion, avoids the shock.
We lost many excellent players in the third round. Some of them could under different circumstances get to the final. Well, bad luck for them.
Although luck was not a factor in Alisa Galliamova's loss – her opponent proved exceptionally strong! When in such form, Koneru can eliminate many men rated above 2600.
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