Sharjah 10: Ju Wenjun one round away

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.

Free Day

Anna Ushenina ready for her free day

The first stop was the Aquarium

A beautiful tunnel where the players observed all kinds of marine life

And some even got to play with them!

Not everyone went to the aquarium, but most did

Harika and Elina rehearsing before their round ten game!

Then it was up Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the World

A spectacular view enjoyed by Humpy and Harika

A late night with show and food

And Henna tatoos!

Lastly the players got to ride camels at night

Some more gracefully than others...

Round Ten

Zhao Xue ½-½ Ushenina, Anna
The Queen's Gambit Accepted variation chosen in this game led to White winning a pawn but having her queen almost trapped. Ushenina used this time to perpetually attack the queen, forcing a draw.

Showing off that Henna

Zhu Chen 1-0 Kosintseva, Tatiana
White's aggressive opening left her in a good position, but she underestimated Black's potential play. Kosintseva powerfully took control of the center and the game, and although her pawn sacrifice was not necessary it was good enough to give her compensation and initiative. She overstepped her limits, however, and she pushed her d-pawn too quickly. Zhu Chen used this time to start a very surprising and effective kingside attack that left Kosintseva's king exposed and White went in for a swift kill.

Ju Wenjun ½-½ Koneru Humpy
Ju Wenjun outplayed Humpy from a complex Bogo-Indian type of structure, eventually reaching a position in which Black was passive and tied down to the d6 pawn. However she decided to let her opponent bail out with a draw by offering a repetition. It is strange the Chinese player didn't play longer as she was playing without any risk.

Still half a point ahead: Ju Wenjun

Danielian, Elina 0-1 Dronavalli Harika
Danielian's 30.f4? left her in a position that was difficult to defend. After a long endgame she almost reached a draw, but made a fatal decision on where to put her queen and that left her one tempo short in the resulting queen and pawn endgame.

Friendly words before a very hard-fought game

Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg ½-½ Hou Yifan
If anything it was the Mongolian player that had the upper hand against the World Champion. In the final position White's chances were a little preferable thanks to the superior coordination of her queen and knight, but Tuvshintugs decided to opt for a draw.

Hou Yifan has had a good tournament, but her rating is so far ahead everyone else's that she is only winning two rating points

"Look, I drew for you!" Batchimeg's draw keeps her GM-norm chances alive and Ju Wenjun's lead

l'Ami, Alina ½-½ Muminova, Nafisa
Something definitely went wrong in the opening for l'Ami as the diagonals that were opened against her king were very dangerous. Muminova should not have let White establish a knight on e5 that did a good job blockading the h2-b8 diagonal. Things started to look bad fro the Romanian player again, but she found a nice sacrificial resource that barely let her give a perpetual check.

A real thriller!

Round Ten Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Maria Emelianova

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.