Lopota Final: Fitting Finish

The fifth stage of the the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place in Lopota, Georgia from the 19th of June until the 1st of July 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 Eleven

The tournament is now over in Lopota and the results make everything very clear. Hou Yifan was absolutely dominant in this event, maybe even more so than she was in Khanty-Mansiysk, and she is inches away from reaching 2650, a feat that only Judit Polgar has been able to achieve in Women's Chess.

The tournament wasn't all about her, however. Ju Wenjun had a magnificent event with strong chess and her last round loss was a blemish in an otherwise memorable tournament. Danielian's second half of the tournament was a strong surge that catapulted her to the top positions of the event and it ends with her being the biggest rating winner with a massive 25 points. Actually between the top three finishers an amazing 56 rating points were won!

Dzagnidze was unable to keep her second place that she held for such a long time. Still, her tournament was good and the fourth place is not undeserved. Humpy and Muzychuk had unsatisfying results. Both of them are trying to pressure Hou Yifan as the top player in women's chess, but their disappointing result combined with the Chinese's dominance makes the gap much larger than it was.

Khotenashvili and Zhao Xue had a terrible tournament losing nearly 50 points between the both of them alone. They will have to lick their wounds and try again in the next cycle. Muminova will need to learn how to convert the few chances and advantages she gets in this top level tournament to be able to escape being in the last places; this time she was last by a full 1.5 points. The ability to score more points is certainly there, but somehow the results don't show it.

Harika, Dronavalli ½-½ Stefanova, Antoaneta
The ...a6 variation of the Semi-Slav has become a very solid weapon in Black's arsenal. Harika was unable to prove any kind of advantage in this system and the draw was a fair result in a balanced and closed position.

A good +1 performance for Stefanova who gains 11 rating points

Muyzchuk, Anna ½-½ Dzagnidze, Nana
The exchange French is not normally a variation that is seen at the grandmaster level, mainly due to its drawish tendencies. This was not the case today as Muzychuk actually got a very comfortable edge that quickly turned into a dangerous advantage when her pieces were fully developed and her opponent was far from doing so.

In a normal day, or maybe after a rest day, Muzychuk would surely have converted such a position, but in this tournament things weren't clicking for her and she could only manage to draw.

Anna Muzychuk spoiled a good advantage in her last round game

Even though her second half of the tournament was nowhere near as good as the first, Nana Dzagnidze can be happy with her overall result

Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Ju Wenjun
Ju Wenjun played this game as if it was the last game of a knock-out and she had to win to remain in the tournament. Of course, all she needed was a draw for a good chance to clinch second place. Her plan backfired badly and Kosteniuk was able to win against a pawn structure that was simply too shattered from the early aggression.

Ju Wenjun's ultra aggressive stance did not work out this time around

A last round victory for Alexandra Kosteniuk makes her tournament about average

Danielian, Elina ½-½ Hou Yifan
The World Champion played an atrocious opening, but it was ok because it seemed that Danielian was satisfied with just playing for a draw. Eventually this was the result.

The sponsors can be happy with Hou Yifan's choice of shirt for the last round

Chinese Pineapple pastries were staple in Hou Yifan's games

Muminova, Nafisa 0-1 Zhao Xue
Muminova obtianed a very slight advantage from the opening, but she completely panicked when Zhao Xue suddenly threw all of her pawns on the kingside forward before even finishing development. In her desperation she committed mistake after mistake and although Zhao Xue didn't finish her off with surgical precision, it was good enough to win.

Khotenashvili, Bela 1-0 Koneru, Humpy
Humpy's bizarre version of a Benoni was less than successful and by move 15 Khotenashvili enjoyed a clear advantage. Khotenashvili played well and wrecked Humpy's position.

A relief in an otherwise terrible tournament for Bela Khotenashvili

Humpy also cannot be happy with her performance here

Standings after eleven rounds

Round eleven games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos and information by Alina l'Ami, 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.