8/3/2011 – This FIDE event is taking place in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, from August 2nd to 14. It is one of the strongest women tournaments of all times, boasting the current and two former world champions. As chance would have it the two strongest players met in the very first round, with reigning world champion Hou Yifan triumphing over top seed Koneru Humpy. Round one report.
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Rostov-on-Don is port of five seas, industrial, scientific and cultural centre
of the south of the country, an important railway junction. The City was founded
in 1749 on the right hilly bank of the river Don, in 65 kilometres from its
emptying in Azov Sea. First, there were only the custom house, but then in 1760
to protect southern borders began the building of the fortress, which got a
name of Rostov and Yaroslav metropolitan-Dmitri. Full
description on the tournament site.
A panorama view of Rostov-on-Don (use scroll bar for full view) – source:
Вадим Анохин
for Wikipedia
The Rostov Chess Federation in collaboration with FIDE and Global Chess is
organising the first event for the 2011/2012 Women's Grand Prix series. The
tournament is being held in the Don-Plaza Hotel and runs from August 1st (arrival,
opening) until August 15 (departure). The eleven rounds are between August 2nd
and 14, with rest days on the 6th and 11th. The start of the games from of rounds
1-10 is 3:00 p.m. local time, round 11 at starts at noon local time. The winner
receives 6,500 Euros out of a total prize fund of 40,000 Euros, and the overall
winner of the Women's Grand Prix will win a further 15,000 Euros at the end
of the series.
Alisa Galliamova, Kateryna Lahno, Tatiana Kosintseva, Nadezhda Kosintseva,
Hou Yifan, Koneru Humpy, Anna Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoneta Stefanova,
Elina Danielian, Ruan Lufei, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
The Rostov Women's Grand Prix is one of the strongest women tournaments of
all times. The participants include current Women World Champion Hou Yifan,
two former Women World champions: Alexandra Kosteniuk and Antoaneta Stefanova,
as well as challenger in the World Championship Match Humpy Koneru who are all
among the highest ranked women players in the world.
Grandmasters Alexandra Kosteniuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Elina Danielian
GM Kateryna Lahno, Ukraine and WGM Ruan Lufei, China
Ruan Lufei is one of the “newcomers” in FIDE Grand Prix Series.
Her appearance in World Chess scene was bright – she reached the final
in the 2010
Women's World Championship, having won on tiebreaks in every round (eliminating
previous champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in the process), and faced fellow Chinese
Hou Yifan in the final.
English language video, provided by Eugene Potemkin, of the press conference
with Nastasia Karlovich interviewing the top players Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan...
... as well as WGM Ruan Lufei and GM Antoaneta Stefanova
Opening ceremony in the assembly hall of the “Don-Plaza” Hotel
on the August 1st
The traditional black-and-white chess theme in the dance recital...
... which took a lively, athletic turn...
... especially in this ballet performance
The drawing of lots, under the watchful eye of chief arbiter Igor Bolotinsky
As fate would have it the two top seed, Hou and Humpy, drew Russian “matryoshka”
(nesting) dolls with the numbers 11 and 2, and thus faced each other in the
first round
Round one
Round one: Tuesday August 02 at 15:00
Stefanova Antoaneta
½-½
Ruan Lufei
Koneru Humpy
0-1
Hou Yifan
Galliamova Alisa
0-1
Lahno Kateryna
Kosteniuk Alexandra
½-½
Kosintseva Tatiana
Muzychuk Anna
½-½
Kovalevskaya Ekat.
Kosintseva Nadezhda
½-½
Danielian Elina
The Mayor of Rostov-on-Don, M.A. Chernyshov, makes the first symbolic move
on the top board. In the background another former Women World champion, Nona
Gaprindashvili, who is a technical adviser.
Koneru Humpy-Hou Yifan was a particularly tense game: the
two are the tournament favourites, but they will also soon be competing for
the world chess title. The game was a Nimzovich Defence/Rubinstein. At the end
of the opening, at move 14, the players repeated the position, but the Indian
grandmaster was unhappy with the prospect of drawing with white and continued
the game. Both of the opponents were trying to keep the maximum pieces on board
but closer to the time trouble they started the active exchanges. At the end
of the first time control the Indian blundered into a mating attack.
An important first-round win for reigning Women's World Champion Hou Yifan
Alisa Galliamova-Kateryna Lahno (above) was a Gruenfeld in
which White chose a rare variation with 5.Qa4 and then sacrificed a queen for
three pieces. In the complicated piece play that followed White could not solve
the problem of the knight on f3 that was out of play. In time trouble White
tried to develop an attack on the enemy king, but it turned out that Black's
position Black was easy to defend, and in the end the material advantage has
ensured her victory.
Antoaneta Stefanova-Ruan Lufei was a Slav looked like a draw
when the after the queens were exchanged, but Black got herself into some trouble
with an errant knight. White gained a winning advantage but then failed to see
a forcing continuation in the endgame. The 98-move marathon ended in a draw.
Alexandra Kosteniuk-Tatiana Kosintseva was a Ruy Lopez in
which Black sacrificed a pawn for an initiative but got a weakened king as a
result. Later Black tried to blast open the centre (20...d5) and then sharpen
the game with an exchange sacrifice (23...Rxb5). After the exchange of queens
White was better but blundered with 33.f4 and the game was drawn.
Anna Muzychuk-Ekaterina Kovalevskaya was keenly anticipated
by the spectators, since Kovalevskaya is the "local lady" who is loved
and appreciated by chess fans in Rostov-on-Don. She played a very risky variation
of Sicilian Defence but came into the ending with a fairly equal position. The
draw was agreed after 61 moves.
Nadezhda Kosintseva at the start of round one
Nadezhda Kosintseva-Elina Danielian was a Caro-Kann in which
Black won an exchange and had a very promising position, before she blundered
in time trouble (32...f4?). White got an endgame with knight and pawn vs two
pawns, which was drawn after 76 moves.
Here is something to think about: the average length of the six games of
round one was sixty moves!
Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich and
Kema Goryaeva with kind permission of FIDE
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
11 or any of our Fritz
compatible chess programs.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
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In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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