Hou Yifan beats Ju Wenjun to lead First Women's Masters

by ChessBase
4/21/2011 – The top seeds collided in round four, and in that game it was reigning women's world champion who took the full point. This put 17-year-old Hou Yifan a full point ahead of the field. In round five that narrowed to half a point. Hou is now followed by fourth seed WGM Shen Yang and – surprise – ninth seed WGM Gu Xiaobing, who defeated GM Zhao Xue in round four. Report after round five.

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The first Chinese women chess grandmasters tournament is taking place from April 16 to April 24 (free day on April 21) in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, in China. Ten top Chinese women grandmasters, including Women's World Champion Hou Yifan, are participating. The event is a round robin with time controls of 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30 second increment for each move. Draw offers are only allowed with the permission of the chief arbiter and will only be granted in theoretically drawn positions. Games start at 14:00h local time.


At the start of round four, which saw a clash of the two top seeds


Women's world champion Hou Yifan in action

Hou Yifan (2602) - Ju Wenjun (2519) [B92]
1st CHN-w Masters Jiangsu Wuxi CHN (4), 19.04.2011
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.0-0-0 Qb6 12.Qxd6 Be7 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 0-0 15.Qd2 Qxf2 16.Bc4 Qxd2+ 17.Nxd2 Rac8 18.Kb1 b5 19.Bd5 Rc7 20.Nf3 Rfc8 21.Rhf1 Bf6 22.c3 h5 23.Rf2 Na5 24.Nd2 Nb7 25.Nf1 Nd6 26.Ne3 a5 27.a3 Rb8 28.Rd3 Bh4 29.Rf1 g6 30.g4 hxg4 31.Nxg4 Kg7 32.Nxe5 Re8 33.Nc6 Nxe4 34.Nxa5 f5 35.Nb3 Nc5 36.Nxc5 Rxc5 37.Bf3 Kf6 38.Kc2 g5 39.h3 Rce5 40.Bg4 f4 41.Rfd1 R8e7 42.Rd6+ Kg7 43.R1d5 Re3 44.Rd7 Rxd7 45.Rxd7+ Kf6 46.Rd6+ Ke7 47.Rd5

Black is a pawn down and struggling. The course she now takes is ultimately fatal: 47...f3?! 48.Rd3 Rxd3 49.Kxd3 f2. Hoping to tie White down in the defence of the promotion square. But the women's world champion knows how to handle the situation and brings home the full point in masterful fashion. 50.Be2 Kd6 51.Ke4 Kc5 52.Kf3 Kb6 53.Bf1 Ka5 54.b3 Kb6 55.b4 Kc6 56.Kg4 Kb6 57.c4 bxc4 58.Bxc4 f1Q 59.Bxf1 Kc6 60.a4 Kc7 61.a5 Kb7 62.b5 Ka7 63.Bg2 1-0.


Lost a key game in round four: second seed WGM Ju Wenjun

In rounds four our friend and helper WGM Gu Xiaobing – she sends us pictures and information in her rest time – turned a dangerous position around against WGM Tan Zhongyi around to take the full point. In round five Xiaobing (picture above), who is seeded ninth in this event, played third seed Zhao Xue, who is a full "male" grandmaster. In a tough 76-move battle she outplayed an opponent rated 126 points above her, to find herself sharing second place with fourth seed Shen Yang, who played the following fifth round game:

Ju Wenjun (2519) - Shen Yang (2443) [D10]
1st CHN-w Masters Jiangsu Wuxi CHN (5), 20.04.2011
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.e4 e5 5.Nf3 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 b5 8.a4 b4 9.Nd1 Nf6 10.f3 Ba6 11.Be3 Nfd7 12.Rc1 c5 13.Nb5 Bxb5 14.axb5 Nb6 15.Bf4 N8d7 16.Ne3 g6 17.Nxc4 Bg7 18.b3 0-0 19.Kf2 f5 20.e5 Rfe8 21.Nxb6 axb6 22.Bc4+ Kf8 23.e6 Bd4+ 24.Kg3 Ne5 25.Bxe5 Bxe5+ 26.f4 Bd4 27.Rc2 Ke7 28.Kf3 Red8 29.Rd1 Ra3 30.h3 h5 31.g4 hxg4+ 32.hxg4 Rh8 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Rg2 Rh3+ 35.Rg3 Rxg3+ 36.Kxg3 Ra1 37.Rd2 Rc1 38.Ra2 Kf6 39.Ra8 Rc3+ 40.Kg2 Rxc4 41.bxc4 b3 42.Rh8 b2 43.Rh1 Be3 44.Re1 Ke7 45.Rb1 Bc1 46.Kg3 Kxe6 47.Kh4 Bxf4 48.Rxb2 Ke5 49.Ra2 Kd4 50.Ra4 Kc3 51.Kh3 Kb3 52.Ra6

52...Kxc4. A brave decision. 53.Ra4+ Kxb5 54.Rxf4 c4 55.Kg2 c3 56.Rf1 Kc4

57.Kf3?? Throwing away the game – 57.Rxf5 holds the game. 57...c2 58.Ke2 Kc3 59.Ke3 b5 60.Ke2 b4 0-1.


In equal second place at halftime: WGM Shen Yang

Standings after the first five rounds


Pictures by Zhang Xiaolu Sina Chess News Blog and China Qiyuang


Links

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