Lopota 09: Close race for second

The fifth stage of the the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place in Lopota, Georgia from the 19th of June until the 1st of July 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

The tournament has become a close race for second place. Every result is important, but there is no question on who the winner will be. With two rounds to go Hou Yifan has a spectacular 8.0/9 and a performance of 2875 – the only player in the world who is expected to perform at that level is Magnus Carlsen.

Chess sets are everywhere, even at the bar...

Press officer l'Ami taking a deserved break

Dzagnidze, Nana 0-1 Stefanova, Antoaneta
Stefanova started out playing a brilliant game. Every move put pressure on her opponent and she seized an early initiative, despite being Black. The unbalanced position and her pair of bishops gave her great play, but she erred and basically threw all of her advantage away in one move. In a complex but still dangerous endgame for both sides it was Dzagnidze's turn to err and she blundered badly leaving her king too exposed. Stefanova pounced and took an important point from Dzagnidze who is now only tied for third.

Antoaneta doesn't always think at the board

Dronavalli Harika ½-½ Ju Wenjun
A fascinating and complex game. The King's Indian gave rise to a strategically difficult position. White won a pawn quickly but her piece activity was not great. Ju Wenjun might have been too hasty to push her e-pawn forward instead of saving the advance for until after she finished development. Harika took her chance to sacrifice the exchange and her powerful knights fully compensated the material deficit.

The Chinese player counter-sacrificed her own exchange and the resulting endgame was close to equal, eventually reaching its logical conclusion.

In solid second, Ju Wenjun looks behind to see who is trying to catch up with her

Post-mortem of a wonderfully interesting game, with Ju Wenjun and Harika

Muzychuk, Anna 0-1 Hou Yifan
A complete blowout. Muzychuk's dubious opening gave her opponent relatively easy equality. In an interesting position Muzychuk played 15.Qg5? completely underestimating the advance 17...a4! which left her pawn structure shattered and basically in a lost position. Black was winning by move 20.

A small technical issue with the clock was a minor annoyance at the start of the game

The key to success is clearly cat earrings

Kosteniuk, Alexandra ½-½ Zhao Xue
Kosteniuk certainly had the better end of this game. Her powerful attack on the kingside was well timed and well executed, but once the transition to the endgame occurred it seems as if she underestimated her opponent counterplay. Zhao Xue did not hesitate in transforming her c-pawn into a dangerous weapon and Kosteniuk had to give back the material she earned from the attack.

Aggression almost gave Alexandra a win

Zhao Xue remained alert and seized a counterattacking chance as soon as she got it

Danielian, Elina 1-0 Koneru, Humpy
Humpy held equality from the opening without problems, and tactical slip from Danielian allowed her to seize a powerful position with a wonderfully placed queen on d2. The Armenian's position was about to collapse but Humpy did not seize the opportunity; a couple of passive moves and the game was back to equal. Then, disaster struck, as Humpy's 38th move blundered a piece to a basic double attack.

A massive blunder turned the game around today in Danielian vs Humpy (above)

Muminova, Nafisa 1-0 Khotenashvili, Bela
A game that was certainly marked by strange decisions. First, Khotenashvili's choice of allowing a light-squared bishop trade and then not trading Muminova's remaining knight resulted in a powerful octopus on the d5 square the controlled the whole board. Muminova allowed certain counter-play but she was winning. However her technique in the endgame was questionable and Khotenashvili had an opportunity to draw the game. However she did not find it and Muminova finally converted a win.

A very welcome win for Nafisa Muminova

Standings after nine rounds

Round nine games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos and information by Alina l'Ami, 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.