Khanty 06: Few changes at the top

The fourth stage of the the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place at the Ugra Chess Academy, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from the 8th of April until the 22nd of April 2014. It is a twelve-player round robin with time controls of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes plus an additional 30 seconds per move for the rest of the game. The total prize fund is 60,000, with the winner getting 10,000 Euro.

Round Six

Hou Yifan and Kateryna Lagno checking out their opponent's games

Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Dzagnidze, Nana
Dzagnidze essayed the Kan Sicilian again, and Kosteniuk also used a Maroczy type system against her, more or less how Hou Yifan did it to beat the Georgian player in an earlier round. Dzagnidze's f5 pawn break was maybe too abrupt and the opening of diagonals and files seemed to favor Kosteniuk. The game became double-edged in time pressure, and both players blundered. However it was the Russian that emerged up a pawn and with good technique she finished the game off.

Time pressure was key in this game, and it was Alexandra Kosteniuk who handled the blitz better

Lagno, Kateryna ½-½ Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
Lagno certainly obtained good pressure from the opening. She missed a couple of key points in which she could have won a pawn in a clean fashion, instead her accuracy dropped somewhat and she ended up a pawn but in a drawish rook endgame that Tuvshintugs defended very well.

Kateryna Lagno could have used her chances better today

Batchimeg was not very happy with her position...

Muminova, Nafisa 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
An impressive strike by the lowest rated player! Kosintseva used a topical line in the Paulsen to gain near equality, but from then on she simply played badly. Muminova launched a strong attack on the kingside and Black's dark-square weaknesses could not be fixed. A beautiful mating attack finished the game off.

Nafisa Muminova is not leading the event by any means, but she can be happy with her results

Stefanova, Antoaneta ½-½ Hou Yifan
Probably the worst position Hou Yifan has had all tournament, she found herself in a slightly uncomfortable endgame as her isolated pawn was a minor weakness. However it wasn't easy to exploit and the game ended in a drawn king endgame.

The slight advantage Antoaneta Stefanova got today is as much
trouble as anyone has given Hou Yifan this tournament

Ushenina, Anna ½-½ Muzychuk, Anna
The duel of the Annas was a typical affair for Ushenina. She proved excellent preparation, obtained a great advantage from the opening, and then spoilt it by playing inaccurately and she let Muzychuk escape with a draw.

Zhao Xue 0-1 Girya, Olga
It is very unclear to me what Zhao Xue was thinking during the opening. After only seven moves of chess she was clearly worse with White and such a mistake is not forgivable for a grandmaster level player. Girya took her advantage and kept putting pressure on White's position, until eventually winning a queen endgame that was difficult to defend for White, if defendable at all.

A lively game, in which Black was always better

Olga Girya held the advantage as early as move seven and never let go

Round Six Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Nikolay Bochkarev, from the official website

Schedule and results

Links Official tournament site All Games in PGN 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.