Tashkent 09: Leaders Lose

The Tashkent Women's Grand Prix is currently being held in Uzbekistan from September 17th - October 1st. The tournament is part of the Women's World Championship cycle that will determine the next challenger for the world title. The twelve player round robin will feature 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.

Round 9

Lagno was soundly outplayed today by an inspired Zhao Xue

Zhao Xue 1-0 Lagno, Kateryna
Lagno calculated a variation in which she lost a pawn but was able to recover it swiftly. However Zhao Xue proved her wrong by ignoring the threat on her rook, and she consistently kept her exchange en prise to secure her extra pawn and to obtain strong positional pressure. Black could never regain her material and eventually lost a tough endgame.

The Chinese player got a much needed victory after three defeats in a row

Kateryna: "I think I had a lot of possibilities to play better, maybe 18…Qb219.Qc4 Qxe2 20.Nd4 Bxd4 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Qxd4 Rxa5 23.Rxc6 Qf3 with some draw chances. But then I just blundered."

Zhao Xue: "I think 14…a5 was a better move, with 15.bxa5 Qxa5"

The local player has a similar story to Nakhbayeva: she gets amazing positions, but isn't able to convert them or sometimes even loses them

Muminova, Nafisa 0-1 Stefanova, Antoaneta
Muminova bravely, and correctly, took a pawn on c6 which forced her knight to be stranded on b8. However she has sufficient resources to keep it alive and maintain her extra pawn. She made a crucial mistake on move 24, when she should have taken the knight on c4 instead of the one on c5. By taking the wrong knight she allowed Black to block the defense to the stranded knight and Stefanova got a pleasant advantage. White had some counterplay but it was simply never enough.

The players had a good time analyzing this very complicated game. Many tactical variations were possible!

Nafisa: "I didn't expect this opening. I should have played 22.f3, I completely missed that after 22.f3 g5 23.fxe4 gxf4 24.Nxf4 black can't take the knight on b8 because of 25.Bh5!"

Antoaneta: "Well I also didn't see this move. I was thinking for a long time about 22…g5. And I didn't consider that the variation with 24.Bxc4 to be so bad for Black."

Alexei Barsov: "27.Rd1 Rxb8 28.Rxd4 was equalizing the game."

Antoaneta: "30.Bg3 was the last chance for White, 30.c6 was a mistake, and after 31…Nd3 Black is already winning."

Stefanova is back at 50% with this victory

Kosteniuk has only had two draws this entire tournament

Dronavalli, Harika 0-1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra
White missed a brilliant opportunity for a strong advantage with the combination starting with 16.Rxe4!. She would regain the pawn she sacrificed in the opening and obtained a strong positional advantage. She had compensation regardless but she strangely advanced her a-pawn, weakening her structure and not gaining much in return. Kosteniuk consolidated, took the pawn on b5 and won with her extra material.

Harika: "I thought too long for 13.e4. It must be winning, but I thought how I played is even better. But then I just lost control."

Alexandra: "I am sure I was losing by force after 16…d6. 19.Qxd5 looked very scary in my opinion."

Evgenij Miroshnichenko: "Maybe better was 19.Qc3 Nbd7 20.Rxd5 Qxd5 with 21.Ne5 or even Ng5."

Harika: "Yes this looks fine for white, at least much better than what I played. I completely forgot, that after my 19.a5 she is not forced to answer a6. And after 21…e6 I understood how badly I've played."

Alexandra: "Yes, at the moment when I finished development by 20…Qb6 and 21…e6, it was already a very good position for Black."

Girya, Olga ½-½ Ju Wenjun
Black obtained a better endgame after a long closed game, but Girya was able to conjure enough counterplay to hold the draw.

Olga: "I think 12.b4 was not a good move. Better was 12.b3. If she played 17…d5, there would not have been any play for White."

Evgenij Miroshnichenko: "Yes, it was very easy to prepare the attack on White's king. Maybe by 20…Rf7 followed by f4."

Olga: "Maybe my opponent shouldn't exchange rooks on g4. After 24…Kh8 my position is terrible."

Ju Wenjun: "Maybe in the endgame I could play better. 36…h5 is interesting. And maybe 43...Bf5 44.Bh3 Bg6 45.Bg4 Rc4 46.Bh5 Kf5 with some better chances for Black."3

Nakhbayeva keeps getting good position, but she's had a tough time in this tournament

Nakhbayeva, Gulishkan 0-1 Danielian, Elina
White obtained a strong advantage from the opening: a beautiful pair of bishops and considerable pressure on the queenside. However her awkward knight moves allowed Black to consolidate and White was slowly outplayed. On move 40 Nakhbayeva blundered a piece in an already uncomfortable endgame.

Elina: "White had to find an immediate active move. I think 14.Rab1 was very strong, and I can't play 14…Rb8 because of 15.Nc6. And after 14.Rfd1 I also didn't play Rb8 because of the same reason, so I decided first to push the knight away by 14…f6 and then develop my pieces. After that Black is already OK."

Guliskhan: "I spent too much time trying to find the best moves, and this was my mistake.  At the end I miscalculated under time pressure." I saw the line 20.Rxd7 Nxd7, but missed 21.Bd6! It looked very dangerous. And it was better to play 37.d6 with good chances for a draw, as after 37…Rc6 38.Bxc5 she can't capture with the rook (38…Rxg7+!), and after 38…bxc5 it is equal."

Once Danielian got her pieces out, her better time management and her superior positional skills allowed her to take the full point

A very important victory by Khotenashvili reminds the tournament that Humpy is not untouchable

Khotenashvili, Bela 1-0 Koneru, Humpy
A tense struggle emerged from this Bogo-Indian kind of opening, but Black slowly pushed White back and she strongly compensated for her structural weaknesses by having superior piece activity. Black's mistake came in move 28 when she exchanged bishops on c4 instead of e2, which allowed White to use her passed pawns to distract Black's pieces and obtain a strong advantage. Khotenashvili played a beautiful endgame and scores an important victory, tying her for second place one point below Humpy.

Humpy: "I was slightly better in the middle game. Maybe it was better to play 27…Rc4 with Nb6. I knew that 28…Bxe2 was a way to draw, but I wanted to play for more, and it was my mistake."

Humpy is still solidly in first place, but cannot allow more losses

Pictures by Maria Emelianova

Standings

Replay seven six games

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Schedule

The games start at 11:00h European time, 13:00h Moscow, 5 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be 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