Lei Tingjie (China) became the last semifinalist of the FIDE Chess.com Speed Chess Championship after defeating Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) 11:9 in a very close and tense match.

It was all Stefanova in the 5+1 segment, taking the lead 5-2. Lei Tingjie fought back in the second 3+1 section and narrowed the gap. It all came down to the last 1+1 portion, in which the Chinese GM was a tad quicker and more collected to squeak out the victory in the match.

“I think I just got very tired very quickly, so I became a bit slow and I made too many mistakes,” explained Antoaneta, who was up three points after the first blitz portion. “I was quite confident at the beginning but later started to blunder too many things.”

“I was quite disappointed after 5+1 and then I just tried to tell myself that 3+1 is the new beginning. I got an advantage in that portion, and then I think I really had an advantage in bullet because I play very fast,” commented the winner.

Lei Tingjie will face Hou Yifan in the semifinals that are scheduled for the end of this week.

The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000.

Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events).

More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.