Nalchik GP: Kosintseva wins hands down

by ChessBase
5/10/2010 – One round before the end of the event GM Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia was leading by a point and a half; in the end she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix by exactly that margin – and a 2735 performance. The prize was € 6,500 and, if we interpret the pictures correctly, a dashing bridegroom from the Caucasus Mountains. Final illustrated report.

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Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik

The Third Women's Chess Grand Prix is taking place in Nalchik, Russia, from April 25th (arrival) to May 8th (departure) 2010. Games start at 15:00 Local Time (GMT+3).

Round ten

Zhu Chen
0-1
Munguntuul Batkhuyag
Dzagnidze Nana
1-0
Danielian Elina
Kovanova Baira
1-0
Zhao Xue
Koneru Humpy
½-½
Hou Yifan
Yildiz Betul Cemre
0-1
Mkrtchian Lilit
Kosintseva Tatiana
1-0
Cramling Pia

Tatiana Kosintseva defeated Pia Cramling, who was trailing her by one point and could have caught her with a victory.

Cramling tried to do this with a surprise Rauser, but it turned out that her opponent knew the line well and played a long theoretical variation to reach a better endgame and ultimately victory. This meant that Kosintseva had 8.0/10, a point and a half ahead of the field, and thus had won the tournament before the last round could begin.


The winner with one round to go: Tatiana Kosintseva

Tatyana: "It was a very tough game. Pia gave me a big surprise in the opening – I hadn’t expected a Rauser. A long forced variation followed. I think I chose quite an acceptable continuation and ensure and was paid off with a good endgame where I had and advantage of two bishops. In the end, on the 40th move, Black played f3. I think it’s a pretty good chance involving a passed pawn. But then it would have been a better option to play 42…Nf8 which would maintain advantage on White’s side but might promise good chances for an escape at the same time."

Pia Cramling: "It was really a rather unpleasant endgame. White had pair of bishops available, and one had to play with caution. At some moment I made the wrong moves. There were some tactical complications after f3, and a few chances to secure a draw still remained – I just shouldn’t have played f8 with my knight on the 42nd move."


Zhu Chen, one of the leaders, was defeated by...


... the Mongolian player Munguntuul Batkhuyag


Baira Kovanova of Russia beat...


... Grand Prix leader Zhao Xue in an extremely dramatic game


Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan survived her game against top seed Humpy Koneru

Hou Yifan, playing black against top seed Humpy Koneru, equalized with ease and then decided not to force a draw but instead made a few bad moves to find herself in a rook endgame a pawn down. But the plucky young Chinese GM held and the marathon 75-move game was drawn.


A disappointing event for top seed Humpy Koneru, India

Round eleven

Cramling Pia
1-0
Zhu Chen
Mkrtchian Lilit
0-1
Kosintseva Tatiana
Hou Yifan
1-0
Yildiz Betul Cemre
Zhao Xue
1-0
Koneru Humpy
Danielian Elina
0-1
Kovanova Baira
Munguntuul Batkhuyag
½-½
Dzagnidze Nana


The winner by 1.5 points: GM Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia

In the final round the remarkable Ms Kosintseva beat Lilit Mkrtchian of Armenia to finish on 9.0/11 and a 2735 performance.


Second in Nalchik, leading in the Grand Prix: Chines GM Hou Yifan

The next-best player, Hou Yifan of China, beat the Turkish player Betul Yildiz and ended with 7.5/11 and a 2601 performance. In equal third were Nana Dzagnidze and Pia Cramling, both with 7.0/11, with Dzagnidze higher on tiebreak points.


The most heavily photographed participant in Nalchik...


... Betul Yildiz, here with her lucky, lucky trainer GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

Final standings


At the closing ceremony Tatiana Kosintseva receives a check of 6,500 Euros...


... and a dashing bridegroom from the Caucasus Mountains (just kidding, obviously!)


The newly crowned queen of chess addresses the audience...


... as does FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

All photos by Ilya Akhobekov, Eldar Mukhametov, courtesy of FIDE

Here are the latest standings in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Rank

Name

Istanbul

Nanjing

Nalchik

Total

Events

1

Hou, Yifan

120

 

130

250

2

2

Zhao, Xue

90

120

40

250

3

3

Dzagnidze, Nana

 

130

100

230

2

4

Koneru, Humpy

160

 

70

230

2

5

Cramling, Pia

65

 

100

165

2

6

Kosintseva Tatiana

 

 

160

160

1

7

Xu, Yuhua

 

160

 

160

1

8

Sebag, Marie

80

80

 

160

2

9

Danielian, Elina

120

 

10

130

2

10

Monguntuul, Batkhuyag

 

50

70

120

2

11

Zhu Chen

 

30

70

100

2

12

Shen, Yang

25

60

 

85

2

13

Fierro, Martha.

65

20

 

85

2

14

Mkrtchian, Lilit

 

80

 

80

1

15

Ju, Wenjun

 

80

 

80

1

16

Kovanova Baira

 

40

40

80

2

17

Chiburdanidze, Maia

45

 

 

45

1

18

Stefanova, Antoaneta

45

 

 

45

1

19

Yildiz, Betul Cemre

10

10

20

40

3

20

Mamedjarova, Zeinab

25

 

 

25

1


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