Sharjah 03: Two at the Top

The sixth and final stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place at the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club, (UAE) from the 24th of August until the 7th of September 2014. Over eleven rounds, twelve of the strongest women players in the world will compete in the round robin tournament with the standard FIDE time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes being added at that point and an additional 30 seconds per move through the entire game.

Round Three

Ju Wenjun 1-0 Zhao Xue
White's quiet Catalan brought an opposite colored bishop endgame that was mildly unpleasant for Black. Zhao Xue got lost in her defensive resources and she never quite found a good way to equalize the situation. Ju Wenjun first won a pawn and then placed her pieces perfectly for a zugzwang on her opponent, costing Black a second pawn and the game.

Another Chinese derby. Zhao Xue goes 0.5/2 against her compatriots

With this victory Ju Wenjun joins Harika at the top

Danielina, Elina 1-0 Zhu Chen
The game was roughly equal until Zhu Chen committed the strange decision of placing her knight on b8, away from the action. Danielian pounced and established her own knight on e5, having a powerful steed that was also locking her opponent's out of the game. Black's position collapsed surprisingly quickly after that.

Backwards is not the way! Zhu Chen's repositioning of her knight cost her a loss

Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg ½-½ Ushenina, Anna
Nothing much happened in this game, a dull opening led to a position in which it was hard for either side to improve.

Winning 12 points after three rounds is certainly something to smile about

l'Ami, Alina 0-1 Kosintseva, Tatiana
A very powerful game by Tatiana Kosintseva! In a complex position she decided to sacrifice a pawn for pressure on the kingside, which eventually led her to sacrifice a piece in that flank. l'Ami was forced to accept this Greek gift, but she still had some defensive resources - unfortunately she missed them with the pressure piling and time trouble looming. One mistake was all it took and Kosintseva crashed through.

Kosintseva's fiery attack gave her a pretty win

Muminova, Nafisa ½-½ Koneru Humpy
A lucky day for Humpy. After inexplicably blundering a pawn she found herself in a completely lost endgame. However Muminova simply played bad moves and allowed counterplay that should not have existed. Humpy took advantage of this and drew the game in a rook endgame.

Nafisa definitely missed a golden chance today

Hou Yifan ½-½ Dronavalli Harika
An interesting and complex game, but the most difficult to understand decision was Harika's willingness to repeat moves in the final position; if anything it was Black that stood better.

An important game that ended in a draw

Hou Yifan's 2.0/3 isn't spectacular, but it keeps her ahead of Humpy

Round Three Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos of Round Three by Anastasya Karlovich

Pairings and Schedule

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.