Khanty Final: Leaders intact

by Alejandro Ramirez
4/21/2014 – Much fighting spirit was seen in the last round of Khanty-Mansiysk, but no changes were seen in the top spots. Hou Yifan had already clinched her tournament victory, and a draw with Kosteniuk allowed the Russian to retain her third place. Second went to Girya who held down two pawns against Tuvshintugs. However the other games were almost all decisive with quite a few surprises.

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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 Eleven

Round 11 – April 21 2014, 11:00h
Hou Yifan 2618
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
½-½
Girya, Olga 2450
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
0-1
Zhao Xue 2552
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Stefanova, A 2489

Taking notes on how to become a participant in this event in a few years

A couple of pieces seem to have escaped

Hou Yifan ½-½ Kosteniuk, Alexandra
Not a short draw by any means. Hou Yifan didn't show any more of her preparation and started the game with 1.g3. This led to an interesting endgame in which White had a potential passed pawn on the queenside but Black was quite active. After some further simplifications the game reached a drawn rook endgame.

No lack of fighting spirit here!

Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½ Muzychuk, Anna
Muzychuk used an old gambit line in the Sveshnikov (at least old for the Sveshnikov, an opening who saw its theory blossom in the early 2000's) that forces an endgame where Black has some compensation, but White's pawns on the queenside look rather dangerous. Black's pieces obtained considerable play and Muzychuk obtained one of her pawns back, but Kosintseva was just in time to perpetually attack Black's rook and force the draw.

Tatiana can still make her trip to Khanty a successful one as the
Women Blitz and Rapid Championships begin in only a few days

Tatiana Kosintseva and Batchimeg Tuvshintugs both finished with 3.5/11,
but one lost twenty rating points and the other one won four...

Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg ½-½ Girya, Olga
Tuvshintugs won a pawn in the Exchange Slav against Girya but the Russian obtained a nagging rook on c2 that bound all of White's pieces. She further sacrificed another pawn to obtain a blockading bishop on b4, and despite White's material advantage it was unclear how to make progress. Tuvshintugs managed to liberate herself by giving one pawn back, but the resulting rook endgame was closer to a draw than to a win.

Her extra two pawns were never easy to convert: Batchimeg Tuvshintugs

Dzagnidze, Nana 0-1 Zhao Xue
A very strange game in a locked position. Zhao Xue advanced all of her pawns quickly, leaving behind many weaknesses but obtaining a big space advantage. It seems that the game remained rather unclear until Black manged to maneuver her knight to the beautiful spot e4 (White should have prevented this by opening lines on the kingside sooner) and after that it was impossible for Dzagnidze to hold her position together.

Nana Dzagnidze lost to the top three finishers and beat the last three places

Lagno, Kateryna 1-0 Ushenina, Anna
The Ukrainian duel seemed as if it was heading for a long game as Lagno utilized a Maroczy type set-up against Ushenina's Sicilian. However Black played far too passively and without any real plan, allowing Lagno to crash through in the center and win in only 24 moves using relatively simple moves.

Overseeing the Ukrainian match-up is Alina l'Ami

Sometimes life gives you lemons and you have to make lemonade. Sometimes it just gives you lemonade. Kateryna had no problems today dispatching Anna Ushenina.

Muminova, Nafisa 0-1 Stefanova, Atoaneta
Muminova was simply too careless with her kingside, alowing Stefanova to crash through with an obvious exchange sacrifice. Even then her position was only slightly worse, with Black having a good attack as compensation for the exchange, but she panicked and gave back too much material. The combination of the multiple weaknesses and the extra material for Black gave Stefanova an easy victory.

Proper piece adjustment is a common top-level ritual

Round Eleven Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Nikolay Bochkarev, from the official website

Schedule and results

Round 01 – April 9 2014, 14:00h
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Ushenina, Anna 2501
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Zhao Xue 2552
1-0
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
1-0
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Round 02 – April 10 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
0-1
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Hou Yifan 2618
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
1-0
Girya, Olga 2450
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
1-0
Zhao Xue 2552
Stefanova, A 2489
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Round 03 – April 11 2014, 14:00h
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Zhao Xue 2552
1-0
Stefanova, A 2489
Girya, Olga 2450
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Round 04 – April 12 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Girya, Olga 2450
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Zhao Xue 2552
Round 05 – April 14 2014, 14:00h
Zhao Xue 2552
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Girya, Olga 2450
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Stefanova, A 2489
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Round 06 – April 15 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Zhao Xue 2552
0-1
Girya, Olga 2450
Round 07 – April 16 2014, 14:00h
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
1-0
Zhao Xue 2552
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Stefanova, A 2489
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
0-1
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Round 08 – April 17 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Ushenina, Anna 2501
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Zhao Xue 2552
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Round 09 – April 19 2014, 14:00h
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
0-1
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Hou Yifan 2618
1-0
Girya, Olga 2450
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Zhao Xue 2552
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
½-½
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
1-0
Stefanova, A 2489
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
½-½
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Round 10 – April 20 2014, 14:00h
Kosteniuk, A 2527
1-0
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
Stefanova, A 2489
½-½
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
Ushenina, Anna 2501
½-½
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
Zhao Xue 2552
0-1
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
Girya, Olga 2450
1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
½-½
Hou Yifan 2618
Round 11 – April 21 2014, 11:00h
Hou Yifan 2618
½-½
Kosteniuk, A 2527
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2496
½-½
Muzychuk, Anna 2560
Tuvshintugs, B 2340
½-½
Girya, Olga 2450
Dzagnidze, Nana 2550
0-1
Zhao Xue 2552
Lagno, Kateryna 2543
1-0
Ushenina, Anna 2501
Muminova, Nafisa 2321
0-1
Stefanova, A 2489

Links

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.

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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