Khanty 10: Hou Yifan clinches

by Alejandro Ramirez
4/21/2014 – With an easy draw against Anna Muzychuk, Hou Yifan was able to secure her win at the Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk. Girya retains her second place by beating Kosintseva but Kosteniuk is right on her heels as she also won, this time against Muminova. Many Grand Prix points are still at stake, but the World Champion was simply untouchable except in egg tapping.

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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 Ten

Round 10 – April 20 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Zhao Xue 2552
0-1
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618

Globetrotter, press officer and adventurer: Alina l'Ami

Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Muminova, Nafisa
Kosteniuk's second win in a row comes from a very sharp opening. The Russian player sacrificed a pawn for strong pressure in the center, but an amazing king walk could have turned things around as Muminova's king was never safe on the kingside, and it should have sought refuge on the other side of the board. Regardless Black survived without losing material and a drawish endgame was reached, in which Kosteniuk completely outplayed her opponent and showed great technique.

Alexandra dressed up in black and white to get clear third place

Nafisa's 4.0/10 is actually excellent for her rating

Stefanova, Antoaenta ½-½ Lagno, Kateryna
Stefanova went pawn hunting early in the opening and she survived the incoming counter-attack from Lagno, reaching a pawn up endgame. The position was objectively drawish, but some mistakes by the Ukrainian put Stefanova in a great position to win. However, as usual for her in this tournament, her technique let her down and Lagno escaped with a draw.

"Bring me a point!" but the full point did not come

Kateryna has had one win, one loss and eight draws this event. Solid!

Ushenina, Anna ½-½ Dzagnidze, Nana
Another typical game for the tournament: Ushenina obtained an opening advantage, missed a clear opportunity to press forward and the game ended in a draw and a spoilt opportunity. Had Ushenina converted every clear advantage she had this tournament the standings would be entirely different.

Girya, Olga 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
A beautiful tactical stroke in the opening gave Girya a winning advantage, with an extra pawn and a powerful position. Her technique allowed her opponent back into the game, and maybe Kosintseva could have found a stiffer defense to try to hold the rook endgame down a pawn, but she didn't and Girya won a trivially easy rook and pawn endgame.

Plenty to smile about: Olga is in second place and pocketed a 10-round GM norm!

Tatiana seems to be somewhat in disbelief at her performance...

Zhao Xue 0-1 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
Zhao Xue played a sharp anti-Gruenfeld but Tuvshintugs was not intimidated in the least. She launched her pawns forward and attacked in every flank, eventually winning one pawn on the queenside and shattering her opponent's kingside pawn structure, exposing the king. The combination of this and the opposite colored bishops, which favors the attacker, gave Black a decisive advantage that she saw through with no problems.

"You're going down" and she did...

Muzychuk, Anna ½-½ Hou Yifan
“After two losses and a terrible blunder, I thought the aggressive approach today might bring even further disappointments. So a draw against the tournament leader is far from being bothersome, it is good to run away from the unfortunate series I had and try again tomorrow”- Anna said during the press conference.

Anna plotting her opponent's demise over the board.
Or the 'let's trade all the pieces and draw'. Whichever one.

It's official now: Hou Yifan wins the Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix

Hou Yifan may have won the tournament, but she was crushed in her egg-tapping match

Round Ten Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Nikolay Bochkarev, from the official website

Schedule and results

Round 01 – April 9 2014, 14:00h
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Ushenina, Anna 2501
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Zhao Xue 2552
1-0
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
1-0
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Round 02 – April 10 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
0-1
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Hou Yifan 2618
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
1-0
Girya, Olga 2450
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
1-0
Zhao Xue 2552
Stefanova, A 2489
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Round 03 – April 11 2014, 14:00h
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Zhao Xue 2552
1-0
Stefanova, A 2489
Girya, Olga 2450
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Round 04 – April 12 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Girya, Olga 2450
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Zhao Xue 2552
Round 05 – April 14 2014, 14:00h
Zhao Xue 2552
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Girya, Olga 2450
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Stefanova, A 2489
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Round 06 – April 15 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Zhao Xue 2552
0-1
Girya, Olga 2450
Round 07 – April 16 2014, 14:00h
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
1-0
Zhao Xue 2552
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Stefanova, A 2489
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Round 08 – April 17 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Ushenina, Anna 2501
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Zhao Xue 2552
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Round 09 – April 19 2014, 14:00h
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
0-1
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Girya, Olga 2450
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Zhao Xue 2552
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
1-0
Stefanova, A 2489
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Round 10 – April 20 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Zhao Xue 2552
0-1
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Round 11 – April 21 2014, 11:00h
Hou Yifan 2618   Kosteniuk, A 2527
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496   Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Tuvshintugs, B 2340   Girya, Olga 2450
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550   Zhao Xue 2552
Lagno, Kateryna 2543   Ushenina, Anna 2501
Muminova, Nafisa 2321   Stefanova, A 2489

Links

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.

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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