Sharjah Final: The Two Chinese take it

The sixth and final stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 took 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 competed 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 Eleven

A last round souvenir for the players

Muminova, Nafisa 0-1 Zhao Xue
Muminova obtained a clear advantage from the opening as it seemed as if Zhao Xue was simply making random moves. With advantages on both sides of the board, Muminova only focused on the queenside and it gave her opponent enough time to consolidate. White's passed pawn in the endgame was blockaded and not strong or dangerous at all, while her light-squared bishop was not good. Faster than it should have happened, the Uzbek player collapsed in the endgame.

The players comparing their Henna tattoos

Zhao Xue played with fire today

Hou Yifan 1-0 l'Ami, Alina
A strange opening led to a open game in which l'Ami was too eager to take control of squares and her weakening move d5 led to severe problems. A beautiful exchange sacrifice uncorked the power of White's pieces and Black's position fell apart like a house of cards.

A crushing attack allows Hou Yifan to tie for first

Dronavalli Harika 1-0 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg
A very long and complicated game. A bold sacrifice left Harika with pressure all over the board, and when it was time to cash in the chips she received two pawns and a rook for her opponent's two minor pieces. Black had good chances of holding on, but a queen swap reduced those chances significantly. The long endgame was torturous for Tuvshintugs who could not hold at the end.

A last round win allows Harika to finish in a big tie for third

Batchimeg can be very pleased with her performance, despite a last round loss

Koneru Humpy 1-0 Danielian, Elina
Humpy's disastrous opening left her in a nearly lost position, and although Danielian let her back in the game with a strange exchange sacrifice, the advantage was always in Black's side. However in time-trouble a huge blunder occurred and Humpy collected a last round win.

Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½ Ju Wenjun
An exciting way to end the tournament! Ju Wenjun might have felt she needed to win this game to maintain her first place, and she went all-out. A triple (!) pawn sacrifice left White's kingside structure weak, but it didn't seem to be enough. Kosintseva accurately defended, but surprisingly her decision to go into an endgame was not the best.

Ju Wenjun took the tournament on tiebreaks,
but the money and the GP points were split

The double-rook endgame gave Black chances to survive due to all the weak pawns in White's camp, despite the extra material for her. Ju Wenjun cleverly stopped White's passed pawns, took them one by one and obtained an interesting draw.

Ushenina, Anna ½-½ Zhu Chen
Zhu Chen's good opening allowed her to obtain a symmetrical position with not much else going on. Further simplifications led to a draw.

The souvenir made everyone happy

Round Eleven Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Closing Ceremony

A short but sweet closing ceremony followed the event

Prizes for the two winners...

Although on tiebreaks it was Ju Wenjun who came out on top

Zhao Xue, the other Chinese player, finished tied for third

Hou Yifan might not have won Sharjah outright, but she won the Grand Prix series! With this she retains the right to challenge whoever is World Championship next. The Women's World Chess Championship, a 64-player knock-out is scheduled to be played next month, but at the moment there is no venue. Many players have threatened not to play, and the announcement of the tournament was rumored to be finally done after the Sharjah Grand Prix, but so far there has been no word from FIDE.

If Hou Yifan wins the World Women's Championship (assuming it happens and if she decides to play, which she has told us is unlikely) held next month, then it would be Humpy's turn to challenger her next year as she finished second in the Grand Prix series.

Harika took third place thanks to her better tiebreak (individual encounters: she scored two points against the other people tied for third, more than anyone else).

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.