Khanty GP: Near Whitewash

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 One

The first round of the fourth FIDE Grand Prix is under way

Alexandra Kosteniuk being briefly interviewed by Russian television

Another Russian star: Tatiana Kosintseva giving her impressions

One more autograph for the board! This time its Tuvshintugs Batchimeg's.

Round one of the Women's Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk was no disappointment! With five decisive results the round was full of action:

Antoaneta Stefanova was close to making the "whitewash" complete

Stefanova, Antoaneta ½-½ Kosteniuk, Alexandra
The only game that was not won by the White pieces, but it certainly could have. Stefanova employed one of her usual unorthodox openings and got a really nice position, eventually leading into a more comfortable endgame. Kosteniuk erred quickly after entering the knight and bishop endgame and found herself in a lost position, but by some miracle Stefanova missed win after win after win until the game was drawn.

Escaping by the skin of her teeth: Alexandra Kosteniuk

Ushenina, Anna 1-0 Muminova, Nafisa
Muminova's opening was good and she had adequate counterplay. She made some strange decisions and ended in a rook endgame down a pawn, but it was possible that she adequate resources to draw the game. Unfortunately for her she missed some key White pawn advances and she found herself helpless against Ushenina's passed e-pawn.

Being White today was not so bad for Anna

Zhao Xue 1-0 Lagno, Kateryna
Zhao Xue's opening was quite bad, and Lagno's position before move ten was already preferable. However something went wrong and the Ukrainian's series of mistakes were severely punished by very active play from Zhao Xue who proceeded to sweep Lagno off the board.

Kateryna Lagno surveying her rivals' games after getting a great opening position

Girya, Olga 1-0 Dzagnidze, Nana
A very complex game. Girya's pawns sacrifice might not have been totally justified but it certainly put pressure on Black's position. Once White safeguarded her own king it was only a matter of time until Black's king could not resist the pressure any longer.

Muzychuk, Anna 1-0 Batchimegs, T
Black's offside knight on b4 was the bane of her existence, as it was impossible to ever bring it back to the game. Mainly due to this she was slowly crushed on the kingside where she was simply playing down a piece.

Tuvshintugs Batchimeg's knight gave her huge headaches

Hou Yifan 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
The World Champion used a delayed Catalan to positionally pressure Kosintseva's position. The Russian fought back and although she was worse the entire game it seems like at some point she might have been close to equalizing. Missing her chance, Kosintseva found herself against the ropes and down a pawn, and Hou Yifan did not forgive.

The World Champion Hou Yifan wasted no time to score her first win

Round One Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos by Kirill Merkuriev, 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.