
From July 16 to 29, 2012 the southern Armenian hamlet of Jermuk played 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.

Round eleven: Saturday July 27,
2012 at 15:00h |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
1-0 |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
1-0 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
1-0 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
½-½ |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
1-0 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
0-1 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |

IMs Lilit Mkrtchian and Nino Khurtsidze discuss their game (which Lilit
won)
The first game to finish was an attractive game between Mkrtchian and Khurtsidze.
White didn’t get much out of the relatively quiet opening, however in
the middlegame, Mkrtchian launched a kingside attack pushing her f and g-pawns.
Under this pressure, Black stumbled which allowed White to complete a decisive
attack.

A tense affair was seen in the clash between Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru. The
opening led to a balanced position, White pressed forward in a risky, and even
inaccurate, fashion. Black was up to the task, addressing first the neutralization
of White’s threats, and then, making use of her positional advantage,
won the game in an elegant manner.

White scored an impressive victory in the game between IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
(left) and GM Zhao Xue, discussing their game with Aghasi Inants. While Black
was able to exit the opening phase without problems, in the middlegame the two
sides began a series of sharp moves resulting in a fluctuating assessment of
the position on the board. Despite the difficult-to-gauge nature of the position,
it was White who demonstrated a better reaction to the dynamics at hand. At
a critical stage, Black blundered and White made no mistake in benefiting from
the opportunity.

Kateryna Lahno vs Hou Yifan saw the Ukrainian come out on top after a subtle
game against the reigning world champion. The opponents assayed a rare variation
in which White had very little advantage. As Black eschewed a choosing passive
defensive setup, she sacrificed a pawn for activity. In the subsequent maneuvering
phase, Black made some imprecise moves and White was able to nurse the advantage
to victory in this important clash.

The encounter between Nadezhda Kosintseva (left) and Ruan Lufei started out
as a quiet affair. In fact, the middlegame continued in the same vein, with
equality dominating the chessboard. At a certain point in the struggle, Black
had to play a simple move to maintain the parity, but instead in time trouble
made a fatal mistake.

A wild ending was seen in the game between Batkhuyag Munguntuul (above) and
Elina Danielian, where the Mongolian participant was seeking her first win.
White embarked on a relatively rare variation in the opening, but Black was
able to parry White’s ideas and achieve a balanced position. In the next
phase of the game, however, Black played a bit indecisively and White had an
opportunity to leap ahead with a big advantage, but missed this chance.
Summary commentary of the round
This analysis is porovided by Aghasi Inants in Armenian and translated into
English by and Aram Hajian.
Final standings (after eleven rounds)


Closing dinner for the players: Batkhuyag, Khurtsidze, Kovalevskaya, Kosintseva,
Lahno, Danielian

... Humpy, Zhao Xue, Ju Wenjun and Ruan Lufei

The winner, Women's World Champion Hou Yifan...

... posing with her check and runners up Nadezhda Kosintseva and Kateryna
Lahno
Photos by Arman
Karakhanyan
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 |
1-0 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
½-½ |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
1-0 |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
1-0 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
½-½ |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
½-½ |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
Round five: Saturday July 21,
2012 at 15:00h |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
½-½ |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
1-0 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
½-½ |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
½-½ |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
0-1 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
½-½ |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
Round six: Sunday July 22, 2012
at 15:00h |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
½-½ |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
½-½ |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
½-½ |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
1-0 |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
0-1 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
½-½ |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
Round seven: Tuesday July 23,
2012 at 15:00h |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
½-½ |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
½-½ |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
0-1 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
1-0 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
½-½ |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
½-½ |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
Round eight: Wednesday July 24,
2012 at 15:00h |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
1-0 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
½-½ |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
0-1 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
½-½ |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
½-½ |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
1-0 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
Round nine: Thursday July 25,
2012 at 15:00h |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
1-0 |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
0-1 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
1-0 |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
½-½ |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
½-½ |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
½-½ |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
Round ten: Friday July 26, 2012
at 15:00h |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
1-0 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |
1-0 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
1-0 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
½-½ |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
½-½ |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
½-½ |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
Round eleven: Saturday July 27,
2012 at 15:00h |
IM |
Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2417 |
1-0 |
GM |
Zhao Xue |
2556 |
GM |
Kosintseva Nadezhda |
2516 |
1-0 |
WGM |
Ruan Lufei |
2483 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
2537 |
1-0 |
GM |
Hou Yifan |
2617 |
IM |
Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
2447 |
½-½ |
GM |
Danielian Elina |
2480 |
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
2450 |
1-0 |
IM |
Khurtsidze Nino |
2456 |
WGM |
Ju Wenjun |
2518 |
0-1 |
GM |
Koneru Humpy |
2598 |