Sharjah 06: Chinese increase Lead

by Alejandro Ramirez
8/31/2014 – With two very clean games Ju Wenjun, who defeated l'Ami, and Hou Yifan, who did the same with Ushenina, have extended their share lead to a full point over clear third, Tuvshintugs. Also important is that Humpy lost against Zhao Xue, which means that the Indian player is a full three points behind Hou Yifan. This makes it almost certain that Hou Yifan will win the GP series.

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The sixth and final stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking 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.

Round Six

Round 06 –August 31 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508
1-0
Koneru Humpy 2598
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
1-0
Dronavalli Harika 2521
Ushenina, Anna 2487
0-1
Hou Yifan 2661
Zhu Chen 2461
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Ju Wenjun 2559
1-0
l'Ami, Alina 2446
Danielian, Elina 2490
½-½
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346

FIDE Vice President Georgios Makropoulos visited the playing site

Zhao Xue 1-0 Koneru Humpy
Definitely not Humpy's best game. Her weak plan of a rook-lift was swiftly punished by Zhao Xue. White had a winning position by move 16 and by move 24 it was all over.

Humpy doesn't seem herself in this tournament, and Zhao Xue took full advantage of this

Kosintseva, Tatiana 1-0 Dronavalli Harika
A very precise game from the Russian! Black's decision to weaken her dark squares with 15...b5?! started the problems. Kosintseva accurately evaluated that her strong bishop on d4 would be worth a fortune, and it was with this bishop that her attack became unstoppable.

Tatiana Kosintseva showed true class in today's game

Ushenina, Anna 0-1 Hou Yifan
It seems as if the World Champion's repertoire is improving, and her game has certainly seen an increase in quality. This combination is proving lethal for her opponents! Ushenina deviated from a Matlakov-Eljanov game from last year, but her novelty was not very successful. Hou Yifan obtained a quick initiative that netted her a pawn and it was all downhill for the Ukrainian after that.

Ushenina has beaten Hou Yifan a few times, but surprisingly never with White

The World Champion reaches 2670 with this victory,
92 points away from Humpy in the live ratings

Zhu Chen ½-½ Muminova, Nafisa
Zhu Chen tried to use a symmetrical Slav structure to exploit her pair of bishops; a solid and risk-less way of playing. Muminova was up to the task of defending her position and although the player from Qatar had a little initiative at some point, it was never anything too dangerous and by the end it was even Black that was thinking of victory.

Ju Wenjun 1-0 l'Ami, Alina
Ju Wenjun obtained a little pressure in this fianchetto Grunfeld-like structure (despite starting as a King's Indian Defense). l'Ami underestimated the danger around her king and her liberating 14...e5? backfired badly on her as the dark squares were too weak to take the rook on a1, costing her a crucial tempo as Ju Wenjun did not have to move her attacked rook. After that the Chinese player played perfectly and keeps the tempo with Hou Yifan as they both share the lead.

Alina l'Ami has not had the best event of her life

It's tough playing the top players in the World!

Danielian, Elina ½-½ Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
The players certainly escaped from theory very quickly; but that didn't make the game any less sharp! Tuvshintugs sacrificed two pawns in the center in typical Grunfeld style and obtained serious counterplay thanks to it. Danielian gave one of her pawns back, hoping to win in an endgame. However the Mongolian player had just enough to hold the game.

Danielian's 50% puts her in a decent tournament, performing at about her rating

Round Six Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

All photos by Maria 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
1-0
Zhao Xue 2508
Danielian, Elina 2490
1-0
Zhu Chen 2461
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2487
l'Ami, Alina 2446
0-1
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
½-½
Koneru Humpy 2598
Hou Yifan 2661
½-½
Dronavalli Harika 2521
Round 04 –August 28 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508
½-½
Dronavalli Harika 2521
Koneru Humpy 2598
0-1
Hou Yifan 2661
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Ushenina, Anna 2487
1-0
l'Ami, Alina 2446
Zhu Chen 2461
0-1
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
Ju Wenjun 2559
1-0
Danielian, Elina 2490
Round 05 –August 30 2014, 15:00h
Danielian, Elina 2490
1-0
Zhao Xue 2508
Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg 2346
½-½
Ju Wenjun 2559
l'Ami, Alina 2446
½-½
Zhu Chen 2461
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2487
Hou Yifan 2661
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
Dronavalli Harika 2521
½-½
Koneru Humpy 2598
Round 06 –August 31 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2508
1-0
Koneru Humpy 2598
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2494
1-0
Dronavalli Harika 2521
Ushenina, Anna 2487
0-1
Hou Yifan 2661
Zhu Chen 2461
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2315
Ju Wenjun 2559
1-0
l'Ami, Alina 2446
Danielian, Elina 2490
½-½
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

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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