Lopota Rd4: Hou Yifan retakes lead

6/23/2014 – Going into the rest day, Hou Yifan will sleep easy as she takes the sole lead with 3.5/4 after an important win. Right behind, and nipping at her ankles in pursuit, are Ju Wenjun, Harika Dronavalli, and Nana Dzagnidze, all with 3.0/4. Perhaps the price of this success is at the bottom of the crosstable, with three on half a point. Still the tournament is far from over. Round four report.

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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 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 four

Round 04 –June 22 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova Antoaneta
2488
1 - 0
 Kosteniuk Alexandra
2532
Danielian Elina
2460
1 - 0
 Muzychuk Anna
2561
Muminova Nafisa
2332
0 - 1
 Dronavalli Harika
2503
Khotenashvili Bela
2518
0 - 1
 Dzagnidze Nana
2541
Koneru Humpy
2613
½ - ½
 Ju Wenjun
2532
Zhao Xue
2538
0 - 1
 Hou Yifan
2629

The day before the rest day, Hou Yifan decides to be the only one who sleeps well, by taking the lead while the others can sweat it. It was a bloody round as only one draw was scored, while five ended in decisive results. The foremost was Yifan who overpowered Zhao Xue and scored her third win in four games.

Hou Yifan is in excellent form

Her motto on the back of her shirt

The Georgian derby Bella Khotenashvili - Nana Dzagnidze was no less original. The strong GMs, and friends as well, soon entered uncharted territory when, in the Petrosian system of the Queens Indian, they were out of theory in less than ten moves.

Shortly before the time control...

[Event "Lopota WGP 2014"] [Site "Lopota GEO"] [Date "2014.06.22"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Khotenashvili, Bela"] [Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2518"] [BlackElo "2541"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r1r2k/p2p1pp1/1p1q1n1p/3p3P/3P3R/PnNBPPR1/1P2KP2/6Q1 b - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2014.06.19"] {White was just about ready to launch her attack, but Black beat her to the punch.} 21... Rxc3 $1 22. bxc3 Qxa3 23. Kf1 {Fleeing for safety but Black does not ease up.} Nc1 24. Rxg7 Nxd3 25. Qg3 (25. Rxf7 $2 Qc1+ 26. Kg2 Rg8+) 25... Qxc3 26. Rxf7 Rg8 27. Rg4 Nxg4 28. fxg4 Qc1+ 29. Kg2 {And the extra piece and queenside pawns do tell.} Qc6 30. Kh3 Qe6 31. Rf3 a5 32. Qh4 Rg5 33. Kg3 a4 34. Rf8+ Kg7 35. Ra8 b5 36. Kf3 Qe4+ 37. Kg3 Ne1 0-1

Though Humpy Koneru and Ju Wenjun drew their game, the question was really whether the Chinese player had somehow missed a win somewhere.

Had Ju Wenjun won her game in round four, she would be sharing the lead

Chess is a game that requires lots of fuel

Although satisfied with the sustenance, Muzychuk lost to Danielian

As to Harika Dronavalli, she won her game against Muminova repeating the line played previously

[Event "Lopota WGP 2014"] [Site "Lopota GEO"] [Date "2014.06.22"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Muminova, Nafisa"] [Black "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2332"] [BlackElo "2503"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2014.06.19"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Nge7 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 9. Be3 f6 10. Bd3 {Possibly a slip by the Georgian player.} ({White usually plays} 10. exf6 gxf6 {first to avoid the line in the game.} 11. Bd3 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Bh6 13. Qe2 O-O 14. Nc3 Ne7 15. O-O Bd7 16. Rae1 Rac8 17. Nd1 Ng6 18. Nh4 f5 19. Qh5 Kg7 20. Rf3 Qd8 21. Rg3 Rf6 22. Nf3 Qf8 23. Rh3 Ne7 24. g4 Be8 25. Qh4 fxg4 26. Qxg4+ Kh8 27. Ne5 Nf5 28. Kh1 Rc7 29. Qe2 Rg7 30. Ng4 Rfg6 31. Ndf2 Rg8 32. Nxh6 Rxh6 33. Bxf5 Rxh3 34. Bxh3 Bb5 35. Qh5 Qxf2 36. Qe5+ Rg7 37. Qb8+ Rg8 38. Qe5+ Rg7 39. Qb8+ {1/2-1/2 (39) Zhigalko,S (2668)-Hou,Y (2590) Moscow 2010}) 10... Nxe3 11. fxe3 fxe5 $1 {This is why White usually takes on f6 before playing Bd3. To avoid this.} 12. b5 Nxd4 $1 13. exd4 e4 14. O-O ({ Though unpleasant, White had to play} 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Ne5 Bd7 16. Nc3 $1 (16. Nxd7 $2 Kxd7 {is much better for Black. Ex:} 17. Nc3 (17. O-O Rd8 18. Nc3 Kc8 19. Kh1 Qxd4 $17)) 16... Qa5 17. Rc1 Bxa3 18. Nc4 Qb4 19. Nxa3 Qxa3) 14... exf3 15. Rf2 Be7 16. Nd2 Qxd4 17. Nxf3 Qe3 18. Kf1 O-O 19. Qb1 Qh6 20. Qc2 Bd8 21. Ke1 Bd7 22. Kd1 Rc8 23. Qb3 Bf6 24. Raa2 Rc1+ 25. Ke2 d4 26. Nxd4 Bxd4 27. Bxh7+ Kxh7 28. Qd3+ Rf5 29. Rxf5 exf5 0-1

In the game between former World Champions Antoaneta Stefanova was in the driver's seat the entire game against Alexandra Kosteniuk after a botched opening by the Russian. The Bulgarian tried to end the game with an attack, but it never came, and she squeezed in a long endgame for her point.

A study in handbags by Alina

Standings after four rounds

Round four Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos and information by Alina l'Ami, from the official website

Schedule and results

Round 01 – June 19 2014, 15:00h
Koneru Humpy 2613
1-0
 Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Zhao Xue 2538
½-½
 Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
 Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Ju Wenjun 2532
1-0
 Danielian, Elina 2460
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
½-½
 Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Dronavalli Harika 2503
½-½
 Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Round 02 – June 20 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
½-½
 Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
0-1
 Dronavalli Harika 2503
Danielian, Elina 2460
½-½
 Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
Muminova, Nafisa 2332
½-½
 Ju Wenjun 2532
Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
0-1
 Hou Yifan 2629
Koneru Humpy 2613
½-½
 Zhao Xue 2538
Round 03 – June 21 2014, 15:00h
Zhao Xue 2538
0-1
 Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
 Koneru Humpy 2613
Ju Wenjun 2532
1-0
 Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
1-0
 Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Dronavalli Harika 2503
½-½
 Danielian, Elina 2460
Muzychuk, Anna 2561
1-0
 Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Round 04 – June 22 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488 1-0 Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Danielian, Elina 2460 1-0 Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Muminova, Nafisa 2332 0-1 Dronavalli Harika 2503
Khotenashvili, Bela 2518 0-1 Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
Koneru Humpy 2613 ½-½ Ju Wenjun 2532
Zhao Xue 2538 0-1 Hou Yifan 2629
Round 05 – June 24 2014, 15:00h
Hou Yifan 2629   Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Ju Wenjun 2532   Zhao Xue 2538
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541   Koneru Humpy 2613
Dronavalli Harika 2503   Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Muzychuk, Anna 2561   Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532   Danielian, Elina 2460
Round 06 – June 25 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488   Danielian, Elina 2460
Muminova, Nafisa 2332   Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Khotenashvili, Bela 2518   Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Koneru Humpy 2613   Dronavalli Harika 2503
Zhao Xue 2538   Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
Hou Yifan 2629   Ju Wenjun 2532
Round 07 – June 26 2014, 15:00h
Ju Wenjun 2532   Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541   Hou Yifan 2629
Dronavalli Harika 2503   Zhao Xue 2538
Muzychuk, Anna 2561   Koneru Humpy 2613
Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532   Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Danielian, Elina 2460   Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Round 08 – June 27 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488   Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Khotenashvili, Bela 2518   Danielian, Elina 2460
Koneru Humpy 2613   Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Zhao Xue 2538   Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Hou Yifan 2629   Dronavalli Harika 2503
Ju Wenjun 2532   Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
Round 09 – June 29 2014, 15:00h
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541   Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Dronavalli Harika 2503   Ju Wenjun 2532
Muzychuk, Anna 2561   Hou Yifan 2629
Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532   Zhao Xue 2538
Danielian, Elina 2460   Koneru Humpy 2613
Muminova, Nafisa 2332   Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Round 10 – June 30 2014, 15:00h
Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488   Khotenashvili, Bela 2518
Koneru Humpy 2613   Muminova, Nafisa 2332
Zhao Xue 2538   Danielian, Elina 2460
Hou Yifan 2629   Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532
Ju Wenjun 2532   Muzychuk, Anna 2561
Dzagnidze, Nana 2541   Dronavalli Harika 2503
Round 11 – July 01 2014, 13:00h
Dronavalli Harika 2503   Stefanova, Antoaneta 2488
Muzychuk, Anna 2561   Dzagnidze, Nana 2541
Kosteniuk, Alexandra 2532   Ju Wenjun 2532
Danielian, Elina 2460   Hou Yifan 2629
Muminova, Nafisa 2332   Zhao Xue 2538
Khotenashvili, Bela 2518   Koneru Humpy 2613

Links

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