Sharjah 02: Distances appear

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/26/2014 – Already after round two it is clear that some players are fighting to win the tournament and others are fighting to stay afloat. All of the Chinese players (the ones that still play for China, at least) are on 1.5/2, a strong score shared by Tuvshintugs and Ushenina. The race is being led by Harika with 2/2, and she faces an important game tomorrow against Hou Yifan.

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The sixth and final stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 will take place at the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, (UAE) from the 24th of August until the 7th of September 2014. Over eleven rounds, twelve of the strongest women players in the world will compete in the round robin tournament with the standard FIDE time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes being added at that point and an additional 30 seconds per move through the entire game.

The winner of the Grand Prix series will play a ten-game World Championship match with the Women’s World Champion; which will be determined during Women World Championship in the third quarter of 2015.

Round Two

Round 02 –August 26 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508
½-½
Hou Yifan 2661
Dronavalli Harika 2521
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Koneru Humpy 2598
1-0
l'Ami, Alina 2446
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
½-½
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Ushenina, Anna 2487
1-0
Danielian, Elina 2490
Zhu Chen 2461
0-1
Ju Wenjun 2559

The Anatasias: (though spelled differently) Sorokina, arbiter and Karlovich, press officer

Zhao Xue ½-½ Hou Yifan
Not a very exciting game. Zhao Xue was ok with repeating a drawish line and the World Champion took the opportunity to go back to her room with an easy half a point with black.

Hou Yifan started with two blacks, but she came out of them with 1.5/2

Zhao Xue didn't see a point in testing Hou Yifan with White. An early rest day for both.

Dronavalli Harika 1-0 Muminova, Nafisa
Harika tried to not use a deep theoretical preparation against Muminova, but this time the Uzbek player reacted well. Muminova held a slight edge for most of the game, but after time trouble she started making strange moves. When she captured her opponent's pawn on a5 her king was too exposed and lonely, and the Indian player's attack crashed through.

Muminova is one of the three players with 0.0/2

Koneru Humpy 1-0 Alina l'Ami
A complex game! l'Ami certainly underestimated the attack on the kingside at some point, and although it seemed that her position held together Humpy's precise strikes caused Black's positions to completely fall apart. A nice combination at the end netted the Indian player a piece and the win.

Can't forget to accesorize properly for the game...

Alina is 0.0/2, but she has played two of the strongest players in the event

Checking out her opponent's games: Dronavalli Harika

Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½ Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
Despite obtaining a great position from the opening, Kosintseva was slowly but surely outplayed by Tuvshintugs. The game reached a rook endgame that was equal despite its asymmetry. Kosintseva clearly didn't want the draw but she had no choice in the matter.

Tatiana tried but she could not beat Batchimeg

Ushenina, Anna 1-0 Danielian, Elina
A long game, but not one that was marked by precise play. Ushenina always had a pleasant position as the symmetrical structure suited her pieces better. Danielian sacrificed a piece to break the bind that was clamping down her position, but surely she was lost after that.

The Ukrainian player made it very hard on herself and Danielian had multiple chances of equalizing or at least creating strong complications, however she missed almost all of them and after 103 moves she had to resign.

Ushenina didn't seem too happy about having to play over 100 moves to defeat her opponent

Zhu Chen 0-1 Ju Wenjun
All it took was one mistake in this complex King's Indian Defense for Zhu Chen's position to collapse. With a precise and cunning sequence Ju Wenjun forced her opponent to exchange her knight for a light-squared bishop with almost no value. This gave her access to a series of weaknesses in the dark squares, and she finished the game beautifully.

Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos of the opening ceremony by A. Karlovich, of round 1 by M. Emelianova

Pairings and Schedule

Round 01 – August 25 2014, 15:00h
Zhu Chen 2461
0-1
Zhao Xue 2508
Ju Wenjun 2559
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2487
Danielian, Elina 2490
½-½
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
1-0
Koneru Humpy 2598
l'Ami, Alina 2446
0-1
Dronavalli Harika 2521
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
0-1
Hou Yifan 2661
Round 02 –August 26 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508
½-½
Hou Yifan 2661
Dronavalli Harika 2521
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Koneru Humpy 2598
1-0
l'Ami, Alina 2446
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
½-½
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Ushenina, Anna 2487
1-0
Danielian, Elina 2490
Zhu Chen 2461
0-1
Ju Wenjun 2559
Round 03 –August 27 2014, 15:00h
Ju Wenjun 2559   Zhao Xue 2508
Danielian, Elina 2490   Zhu Chen 2461
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346   Ushenina, Anna 2487
l'Ami, Alina 2446   Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Muminova, Nafisa 2315   Koneru Humpy 2598
Hou Yifan 2661   Dronavalli Harika 2521
Round 04 –August 28 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508   Dronavalli Harika 2521
Koneru Humpy 2598   Hou Yifan 2661
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494   Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Ushenina, Anna 2487   l'Ami, Alina 2446
Zhu Chen 2461   Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Ju Wenjun 2559   Danielian, Elina 2490
Round 05 –August 30 2014, 15:00h
Danielian, Elina 2490   Zhao Xue 2508
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346   Ju Wenjun 2559
l'Ami, Alina 2446   Zhu Chen 2461
Muminova, Nafisa 2315   Ushenina, Anna 2487
Hou Yifan 2661   Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Dronavalli Harika 2521   Koneru Humpy 2598
Round 06 –August 31 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508   Koneru Humpy 2598
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494   Dronavalli Harika 2521
Ushenina, Anna 2487   Hou Yifan 2661
Zhu Chen 2461   Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Ju Wenjun 2559   l'Ami, Alina 2446
Danielian, Elina 2490   Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Round 07 –September 01 2014, 15:00h
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346   Zhao Xue 2508
l'Ami, Alina 2446   Danielian, Elina 2490
Muminova, Nafisa 2315   Ju Wenjun 2559
Hou Yifan 2661   Zhu Chen 2461
Dronavalli Harika 2521   Ushenina, Anna 2487
Koneru Humpy 2598   Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Round 08 –September 02 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508   Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Ushenina, Anna 2487   Koneru Humpy 2598
Zhu Chen 2461   Dronavalli Harika 2521
Ju Wenjun 2559   Hou Yifan 2661
Danielian, Elina 2490   Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346   l'Ami, Alina 2446
Round 09 – September 04 2014, 15:00h
l'Ami, Alina 2446   Zhao Xue 2508
Muminova, Nafisa 2315   Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Hou Yifan 2661   Danielian, Elina 2490
Dronavalli Harika 2521   Ju Wenjun 2559
Koneru Humpy 2598   Zhu Chen 2461
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494   Ushenina, Anna 2487
Round 10 –September 05 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508   Ushenina, Anna 2487
Zhu Chen 2461   Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Ju Wenjun 2559   Koneru Humpy 2598
Danielian, Elina 2490   Dronavalli Harika 2521
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346   Hou Yifan 2661
l'Ami, Alina 2446   Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Round 11 – September 06 2014, 13:00h
Muminova, Nafisa 2315   Zhao Xue 2508
Hou Yifan 2661   l'Ami, Alina 2446
Dronavalli Harika 2521   Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Koneru Humpy 2598   Danielian, Elina 2490
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494   Ju Wenjun 2559
Ushenina, Anna 2487   Zhu Chen 2461

Links

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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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