Khanty 09: Hou Yifan leads by two points

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 Nine

Muzychuk, Anna 0-1 Kosteniuk, Alexandra
The Catalan-like sacrifices on c4 come with risks for both sides, always. White's strong pawn center is many times overwhelmed by black's massive queen-side pawn structure. In this case both sides held their advantages closely, but at some point Muzychuk lost her way in the tactical complications and Kosteniuk capitalized fully on her opponent's mistakes.

A pleased Alexandra jumps to third place

Anna Muzychuk tried to grab second place from
Olga Girya but was stopped cold by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Hou Yifan 1-0 Girya, Olga
Clearly the most important result of the round. Hou Yifan started a dangerous attack on the kingside that had to be met with precision by Black. The machines give some crazy defensive lines, but Girya did not find them and the World Champion's bishops ravaged the board. This cost the Russian suitor her queen and it was simple technique from Hou Yifan that was required to take a two point commanding lead with only two rounds to go.

Happily on top: Hou Yifan with two points ahead of...

Olga Girya, who is still second

Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½ Zhao Xue
A very entertaining game. The opposite colored bishops allowed Kosintseva to launch an attack on the light-squares that cost Zhao Xue an exchange, but she obtained a pawn and some interesting compensation for it. Eventually and endgame was reached where White had winning chances, but nothing more. She tried for many, many moves but was unable to bring down the Chinese wall.

Tatiana has great experience in women events but this was not her Grand Prix

A great start was followed by a tough few games for Zhao Xue who is not near the top now

Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg ½-½ Ushenina, Anna
This game was equal from beginning to end. Both players tried their hardest but they just couldn't cause enough problems to the other player.

Anna has had her ups and down in Khanty, but she sits at 50%

Batchimeg is still one point away from climbing out of last place

Dzagnidze, Nana 1-0 Stefanova, Antoaneta
A strange Stone Wall came to an abrupt end when Dzagnidze sacrificed an exchange for activity against Stefanova. The Bulgarian player still had some defensive resources but for some reason she was unable to find them and her entire position collapsed.

Lagno, Kateryna ½-½ Muminova, Nafisa
At some point it seemed that surely White's devasting pin on the e-file would reap a deadly reward, but somehow Muminova's cool rook movements were sufficient to hold the game and it seemed impossible for Lagno to find an entry point. After the queen's came off it was obvious that the opposite colored bishops would lead this game to a draw.

Kateryna's 50% is a little below her expected performance

Nafisa survived a near-deadly pin on the e-file today

Round Nine 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.