Jermuk: Chinese players Ju Wenjun and Ruan Lufei lead

by ChessBase
7/20/2012 – After three rounds of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Armenia it is the only two WGMs in the tournament – all other players are IMs or full GMs – who have taken the lead. Both have 2.5/3 points and performances of 2797 and 2757 respectively. We bring you a big report of rounds two and three, with splendid photos supplied by the organisers, as well as annotated replayable games.

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From July 16 to 29, 2012 the southern Armenian hamlet of Jermuk is playing host to the Fifth FIDE Women's Grand Prix, part of a series of elite events organised by FIDE and Global Chess. There will be six tournaments over two years in various countries around the world. The winner of each tournament takes home 6,500 Euros, the total prize fund is 40,000 Euros. The overall winner will get a further 15,000 Euros at the end of the series. Starting time of the games is 15:00h (check your local time here). A full shedule with all results is given at the bottom of the page. Monday, July 23 is a free day.

Round two

An astonishing round in which every games was decided – we are trying to think when it was the last time we saw a tournament with more than four players where a round was unblemished with a ½-½ result.

Round two: Wednesday July 18, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
0-1
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
1-0
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
0-1
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
0-1
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
1-0
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
1-0
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456

Annotated games of round two for replay


Novelty and a nice win: Ukrainian GM Kateryna Lahno


Hou Yifan and Lilit Mkrtchian analyse in the press conference after the round


Friends? You bet! Lilit Mkrtchian and Katya Lahno


The games are displayed on large demo boards for the public in the park


Gottcha! An Armenian chess fan following the games

Round three

This round saw two draws – and four decisive games, emphasizing the fighting and sometimes error-prone quality of women's chess. In any case fans are glad for it.

Round three: Thursday July 19, 2012 at 15:00h
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
0-1
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
1-0
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
½-½
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
1-0
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
1-0
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
½-½
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537

Annotated games of round three for replay


The setup in Jermuk, at the start of roung three


Before the start of a critical game that threw the tournament leader back a notch


After her draw today against top seed Hou Yifan Chinese WGM Ju Wenjun is in the lead


The Georgian IM is not in form, as her three losses in the first three rounds prove


What went wrong? Armenian IM Lilit Mkrtchian and Chinese WGM Ruan Lufei ...


Lilit has so far only managed a single draw in the first round...


... while her opponent leads with 2.5/3 and a 2757 performance


Kateryna Lahno, who is married to GM Robert Fontaine and now lives in Paris


Youthful fans in Jermuk follow the games on – an Android tablet!


The youngest can only look in wonder – with Sinatra-blue eyes

Standings after three rounds

Note that so far only five games (=27.8% of all games) were drawn. Black won the same number of games, while White won eight, which adds up to 44.4% of all the games in three rounds.

Remaining schedule

5th day: Round 4 20.07.2012
6th day: Round 5 21.07.2012
7th day: Round 6 22.07.2012
8th day: Free day 23.07.2012
9th day: Round 7 24.07.2012
10th day: Round 8 25.07.2012
11th day: Round 9 26.07.2012
12th day Round 10 27.07.2012
13th day: Round 11 and Closing Ceremony 28.07.2012
14th day: Departure 29.07.2012

Schedule and results

Round one: Tuesday July 17, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
1-0
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
0-1
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
½-½
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
½-½
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
½-½
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
1-0
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
Round two: Wednesday July 18, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
0-1
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
1-0
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
0-1
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
0-1
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
1-0
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
1-0
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
Round three: Thursday July 19, 2012 at 15:00h
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
0-1
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
1-0
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
½-½
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
1-0
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
1-0
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
½-½
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
Round four: Friday July 20, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
-
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
-
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
-
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
-
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
-
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
-
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
Round five: Saturday July 21, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
-
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
-
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
-
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
-
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
-
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
-
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
Round six: Sunday July 22, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
-
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
-
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
-
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
-
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
-
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
-
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
Round seven: Tuesday July 23, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
-
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
-
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
-
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
-
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
-
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
-
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
Round eight: Wednesday July 24, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
-
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
-
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
-
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
-
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
-
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
-
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
Round nine: Thursday July 25, 2012 at 15:00h
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
-
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
-
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
-
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
-
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
-
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
-
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
Round ten: Friday July 26, 2012 at 15:00h
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
-
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598
-
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
-
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
-
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
-
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
-
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
Round eleven: Saturday July 27, 2012 at 15:00h
IM
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2417
-
GM
Zhao Xue 2556
GM
Kosintseva Nadezhda 2516
-
WGM
Ruan Lufei 2483
GM
Lahno Kateryna 2537
-
GM
Hou Yifan 2617
IM
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2447
-
GM
Danielian Elina 2480
IM
Mkrtchian Lilit 2450
-
IM
Khurtsidze Nino 2456
WGM
Ju Wenjun 2518
-
GM
Koneru Humpy 2598

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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


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