Khanty 10: Hou Yifan clinches

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 Ten

Globetrotter, press officer and adventurer: Alina l'Ami

Kosteniuk, Alexandra 1-0 Muminova, Nafisa
Kosteniuk's second win in a row comes from a very sharp opening. The Russian player sacrificed a pawn for strong pressure in the center, but an amazing king walk could have turned things around as Muminova's king was never safe on the kingside, and it should have sought refuge on the other side of the board. Regardless Black survived without losing material and a drawish endgame was reached, in which Kosteniuk completely outplayed her opponent and showed great technique.

Alexandra dressed up in black and white to get clear third place

Nafisa's 4.0/10 is actually excellent for her rating

Stefanova, Antoaenta ½-½ Lagno, Kateryna
Stefanova went pawn hunting early in the opening and she survived the incoming counter-attack from Lagno, reaching a pawn up endgame. The position was objectively drawish, but some mistakes by the Ukrainian put Stefanova in a great position to win. However, as usual for her in this tournament, her technique let her down and Lagno escaped with a draw.

"Bring me a point!" but the full point did not come

Kateryna has had one win, one loss and eight draws this event. Solid!

Ushenina, Anna ½-½ Dzagnidze, Nana
Another typical game for the tournament: Ushenina obtained an opening advantage, missed a clear opportunity to press forward and the game ended in a draw and a spoilt opportunity. Had Ushenina converted every clear advantage she had this tournament the standings would be entirely different.

Girya, Olga 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
A beautiful tactical stroke in the opening gave Girya a winning advantage, with an extra pawn and a powerful position. Her technique allowed her opponent back into the game, and maybe Kosintseva could have found a stiffer defense to try to hold the rook endgame down a pawn, but she didn't and Girya won a trivially easy rook and pawn endgame.

Plenty to smile about: Olga is in second place and pocketed a 10-round GM norm!

Tatiana seems to be somewhat in disbelief at her performance...

Zhao Xue 0-1 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
Zhao Xue played a sharp anti-Gruenfeld but Tuvshintugs was not intimidated in the least. She launched her pawns forward and attacked in every flank, eventually winning one pawn on the queenside and shattering her opponent's kingside pawn structure, exposing the king. The combination of this and the opposite colored bishops, which favors the attacker, gave Black a decisive advantage that she saw through with no problems.

"You're going down" and she did...

Muzychuk, Anna ½-½ Hou Yifan
“After two losses and a terrible blunder, I thought the aggressive approach today might bring even further disappointments. So a draw against the tournament leader is far from being bothersome, it is good to run away from the unfortunate series I had and try again tomorrow”- Anna said during the press conference.

Anna plotting her opponent's demise over the board.
Or the 'let's trade all the pieces and draw'. Whichever one.

It's official now: Hou Yifan wins the Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix

Hou Yifan may have won the tournament, but she was crushed in her egg-tapping match

Round Ten 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.