Khanty 04: Muzychuk catching up

The fourth stage of the the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place at the Ugra Chess Academy, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from the 8th of April until the 22nd of April 2014. It is a twelve-player round robin with time controls of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes plus an additional 30 seconds per move for the rest of the game. The total prize fund is 60,000, with the winner getting 10,000 Euro.

Round Four

Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
Another slow Spanish, but this time the Mongolian player's bishop on g4 proved to be a static weakness as it could not easily go home. Kosteniuk exploited this to the fullest of extents, eventually Black was unable to hold her position together because of this bishop and the extra material was sufficient for White to take the full point eventually.

Batchimeg Tuvshintugs has had a rough schedule and she only has half a point

Dzagnidze, Nana 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
Dzagnidze sacrificed two pieces for a rook in a topical line of the Ragozin. The Georgian came with excellent preparation, and Kosintseva was simply not able to find the most accurate defenses in such a complicated position. It is possible that the entire line is bad for black, but only time will tell on that one. Today it was a beautiful example of home preparation paying off.

Very well prepared: Nana Dzagnidze crushed Tatiana Kosintseva with deep study

Lagno, Kateryna ½-½ Hou Yifan
Lagno's attempt to enter the Catalan turned into a Fianchetto Benoni, and not one that favored White at all. Hou Yifan quickly sacrificed an exchange for excellent compensation, and she might even have had the better practical chances. However she protected her lead and repeated moves, leaving her half a point ahead of Muzychuk.

World Champion Hou Yifan was leading 3-0 before the game...

... and kept her lead, playing it a little on the safe side against Kateryna Lagno today

Despite Kateryna's fiery eyes she was simply unable to pose Hou Yifan any problems

Muminova, Nafisa 0-1 Muzychuk, Anna
Something went awfully wrong in Muminova's preparation as she found herself down a pawn with no compensation before move 20. However Muzychuk's technique was spot on and Muminova obtained a drawn endgame. However she was unable to hold a theoretically drawn f and h pawn rook endgame, and missed a great opportunity to add half a point to her score. Muzychuk on the other hand is now Hou Yifan's closest suitor.

With a little more endgame knowledge Nafisa Muminova could have saved today's game

Stefanova, Antoaneta ½-½ Girya, Olga
Stefanova was certainly lost in the middlegame, where she had simply way too many weaknesses and she was down a pawn. But, somehow, Girya exchanged in to the endgame too early and she made conversion very complicated, to the point where she lost her way and let the Bulgarian player escape with half a point.

Yesterday she blundered half a point, today she saved half a point miraculously: Antoaneta Stefanova

Ushenina, Anna ½-½ Zhao Xue
Ushenina sacrificed a pawn for compensation against Zhao Xue. This almost worked wonders as her pieces were swarming the board and it was difficult for the Chinese player to defend all of her weaknesses. However Ushenina was never able to find a killing blow, and slowly Zhao Xue steered the game to a draw after counter-sacrificing her own pawn. The opposite colored bishop endgame that resulted was dead drawn.

Tough defense, but Zhao Xue held it together

Anna Ushenina has had good positions in her games, despite her 50% score

Round Four Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Nikolay Bochkarev, from the official website

Schedule and results

Links Official tournament site All Games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.