Jermuk GP: Dzagnidze wins again, 2948 performance
7/3/2010 – GM Nana Dzagnidze has done it yet again: she beat her main rival Lilit Mkrtchian, with the black pieces, to maintain her 1.5 point lead, now ahead of Tatiana Kosentseva. Meanwhile an eerie silence has descended over Europe. The streets are empty. Everybody watching round nine in Jermuk? No, the football World Cup in South Africa. We have a 2024 star and some soccer jests.
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The FIDE Women Grand Prix, a series of elite tournaments organised by FIDE and Global Chess, is being held in various countries around the world. There are six tournaments spread over two years, with three tournaments every year. The winner of each gets € 6,500 out of a prize fund of € 40,000. The overall winner of the series receives an additional € 15,000 at the end of the series. The Jermuk Grand Prix is one of the strongest women's tournaments of all times. There are eleven rounds in all, with one free day: Wednesday, June 30.
Round eight report
| Round 8 – July 2, 2010 |
||
Hou Yifan |
1-0 |
Fierro Baquero, Martha |
Mkrtchian, Lilit |
0-1 |
Dzagnidze, Nana |
Danielian, Elina |
½-½ |
Cramling, Pia |
Stefanova, Antoaneta |
½-½ |
Kovanova, Baira |
Shen Yang |
½-½ |
Chiburdanidze, Maia |
Xu Yuhua |
0-1 |
Kosintseva, Tatiana |
The key game in round eight was the encounter between the leading player Nana Dzagnidze (6.5/7) and her nearest rival, Lilit Mkrtchian (5.0/7).
Mkrtchian,L (2477) - Dzagnidze,N (2478) [E32]
4th FIDE GP w Jermuk ARM (8), 02.07.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 dxc4
8.Qxc4 b6 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.e4 Qc8 12.Bxa6 Qxa6 13.Ne2 c5 14.0-0 Rac8
15.Nc3 Rfe8 16.Rd2 b5 17.dxc5 Rxc5 18.Bxf6 Nxf6 19.Rfd1 Qb7 20.Rd4 Qc7 21.Qe2
Qe5 22.Rd8 Kf8 23.Rxe8+ Nxe8 24.Rd8 Qc7 25.Qd3 Ke7 26.Rd4 g5 27.Qe3 a6 28.g3
h6 29.Rd3 Nd6 30.b3 g4 31.Qd4 h5 32.Re3 a5 33.b4 axb4 34.axb4 Rc4 35.Qg7?
Careless.
35...Rxb4! If Lilit had moved the queen to e5 on the last move this would not have been possible: 35...Rxb4 36.Nd5+. 36.e5 Nf5 37.Qf6+ Ke8 38.Rd3 Rd4 39.Qh8+ Kd7 40.Rxd4+ Nxd4. Time control met, but the game is over. Black has deadly threats on White's backrank. 41.Ne4 Qc1+ 42.Kg2 Nf3 43.Nf6+ Kc7 with mate to follow. 0-1.
Tatiana Kosentseva won her black game against the former women's world champion
from China to take up second place, a point ahead of Hou Yifan and Lilit Mkrtchian
Top seed Yifan is working her way up – in round eight with a win against
the tail-ender
Standings after seven rounds
The young player preparing for the 2024 Russian World Cup – which reminds us of our favourite taunt, sent to us by Steve Giddins of England:
Before they left South Africa the England National Football Team visited a Cape Town orphanage. “It’s heartbreaking to see their sad little faces with no hope at all” said Jamaal, aged 6, one of the children at the orphanage.
And while we are at it, here's a slightly adapted pun from my (Frederic Friedel) early childhood:
A spectator in the crowd had his wooden vuvuzela rammed down his throat. It was not fatal, but extremely painful. He did, however, learn a lesson: "What mighty aches from oak horns grow".
And one more jest provided to us by Vladimir Kramnik:
Members of the South Africa Vuvuzela Philharmonic Orchestra, widely considered to be among the best large-scale monotonic wind instrument ensembles in the world, told reporters Friday they were furious over the recent outbreaks of international soccer matches during their traditional outdoor concerts. Full Onion Report here.
All pictures by Arman Karakhanyan, courtesy of FIDE
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