WGP Geneva: Muzychuk joins Lahno in the lead

by ChessBase
5/9/2013 – The key game in the fifth round was the encounter between the number one and two seeds in this tournament, Hou Yifan and Anna Muzychuk. The Slovenian outplayed the former Women's World Champion and shares the first place with Ukrainian GM Katerina Lagno, who drew her game against Anna Ushenina. Full report with analysis by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin and an historical guess-who picture.

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Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva

The Neva Foundation in partnership with the Internation Chess Federation (FIDE) has organised the first leg of the official Women's Grand Prix series for the first time in Geneva. From May 3 to May 15, twelve of the best women players featuring current Women World Champion Anna Ushenina from Ukraine, will confront each other at the N'vY Manotel. The tournament is an eleven-round all-play-all at classical time controls.

Round five report

Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
1-0
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
½-½
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
½-½
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
1-0
GM Yifan Hou 2617
WGM Olga Girya 2463
0-1
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
½-½
GM Anna Ushenina 2491

Two Russian players Alexandra Kosteniuk and Olga Girya lost their games against Bela Khotenashvili and Ju Wenjun respectively. Another Russian, Tatiana Kosintseva, had a winning position against Tuvshintugs Batchimeg but missed a couple of chances and only drew. Viktorija Cmilyte and Nana Dzagnidze were the last to finish their game in a draw after 72 moves.

A full summary of all six games is to be found here on the official tournament site.

Analysis by Adrian Mikhalchishin

Adrian Mikhalchishin analysing with GM Anna Muzychuk

Once again Arrian Mikhalchishin has sent us analysis of the key game. Incidentally he received a mild reprimand for referring to Hou Yifan as the Women's World Champion, althought the Chinese GM lost her title earlier this year to Anna Ushenina. He replied: "I call Hou Yifan World Champion because I believe that every former Champion has the right to be called that!" And he does it without compunction in today's analysis.

[Event "Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix"] [Site "Geneva"] [Date "2013.05.08"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B52"] [Annotator "MIKHALCHISHIN"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:03:28"] [BlackClock "0:00:35"] {A very important game between the number 1 and 2 seeded players in the tournament. Anna said that she had not beaten Hou Yifan for a long time - the last win was in Krasnoturjinsk in 2007! In this round she decided not to play main openings but to chose a side line which has promised White good results recently. Even World Champion Anand lost twice against it.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {The World Champion plays this line regularly, and just once played a sharper move:} Bd7 (3... Nd7) 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. f3 O-O 10. Be3 Nc6 11. O-O a6 $5 {Kasparov,G. The logical plan is to try to control the black squares.} (11... Qd8) 12. a4 e6 13. Nxc6 $1 $146 { A very logical novelty.} bxc6 ({Clearly worse would be} 13... Qxc6 14. Rc1 Qxc4 $2 15. Nd5 Qa2 16. Ra1 Qxb2 17. Bd4 Nxd5 18. Bxb2 Bxb2 19. exd5) 14. a5 ({It is necessary to keep the d6 pawn weak.} 14. c5 d5 15. e5 Ne8 16. f4 Rb8 {with very serious counterplay.}) ({Muzychuk considered here} 14. b4 {but decided that} Ng4 {was very unpleasant.}) 14... Qc7 ({Safer it would be to go to the other side with} 14... Qe7) 15. Bb6 ({Sharper and probably equally good was} 15. Na4 d5 16. Bb6 Qf4 17. g3 Qg5 18. f4 Qh6) ({Anna said that she did not want to allow her opponent to build a strong structure.} 15. Qd2 c5) 15... Qb8 ({It was still not late to go other way} 15... Qe7) 16. Na4 ({Very unclear developments would follow after the rook transfer} 16. Ra3 Nd7 17. Rb3 Nxb6 18. Qd3 Qd8 19. Rxb6 Qg5) 16... Nd7 17. Be3 {Anna said that she must had to return with her bishop as it was threated to be cut off with c6-c5.} c5 18. Qd2 Qc7 ({ Black has problem with the d6 pawn, which could be solved in a slightly unusual way} 18... Rc8 19. Rfd1 Rc6) 19. Rfd1 Ne5 20. Nb6 Rad8 21. Ra3 { Typical rook transfer to increase the attacking power.} Nc6 ({An aggressive approach could lead to many weaknesses} 21... f5 22. Bg5 Rde8 23. exf5 (23. Qxd6 $2 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Nf7) 23... Rxf5 24. Bh4 Bf8 25. Bg3) 22. Rd3 Rfe8 23. Bg5 ({A positional trap here was} 23. Rxd6 Bd4 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Bxd4 Rxd4 26. Qe1 Qd6 {and although a pawn down Black creates huge pressure on the open file.}) 23... Rb8 ({White keeps a serious advantage after} 23... f6 24. Bf4 Nd4 25. b4) 24. Rxd6 Nd4 ({Another way did not work either} 24... Bd4+ 25. Rxd4 Nxd4 26. Bf6 Qd6 27. Qh6 Qf8 28. Qxf8+ Rxf8 29. b4 Rfe8 30. Bxd4 cxd4 31. Rxd4 {and White would have total control over most important files for the sacrificed exchange.}) 25. Rd7 Qc6 26. Ra7 Rxb6 {After the game Hou Yifan said that she did not see any other way, as activity does not help:} (26... f5 27. b4 fxe4 28. bxc5 Qxc5 29. Rxg7+) 27. axb6 Qxb6 28. Rd7 Qb3 29. Kh1 ({There was possible a sharper way of cashing in on the material advantage.} 29. Qd3 Qxb2 30. Rb1 Qa2 31. Rbb7) 29... Qxc4 30. Qf4 Rf8 ({Slightly better was} 30... e5 31. Qc1 Qb5 32. Ra7 Rb8 33. Qa1) 31. Rb7 Qa4 32. Re1 Nc2 $2 {Bad move, but the World Champion said she has not seen anything else to continue serious resistance.} 33. Rc1 Nb4 34. Qd2 Nc6 35. Qd7 h6 36. Be7 Ra8 37. Bxc5 Kh7 38. Bg1 1-0

Struggling in this tournament: Former Women's World Champion Hou Yifan

Adrian Bogdanovich Mikhalchishin – also spelled Mihalcisin or Mihalčišin, was born on November 11 1954 in Lvov and has been a Grandmaster since 1978. He is currently among the top five world trainers and the Chairman of the FIDE Trainers' Commission. Mikhalchishin trained the team of USSR in the 1980s, the national teams of Slovenia, Poland and the Netherlands. He also Maya Tchiburdanidze 1978, Nana Aleksandria -1983, Anatoly Karpov 1980-1986, Aleksandr Beliavsky 1986-1995, Vasyl Ivanchuk 1990, the Polgar sisters 1992-1994, Alisa Marich 1994-2000, Zhaoqin Peng 2002-2007, Mateusz Bartel 2000-2009, Ilya Nyzhnyk 2009, Richard Rapport 2010, Arkady Naidich -2005-2006. He is currently coaching the Women's Team in Turkey.

Adrian sent us this enchanting picture showing two of his young chess students in
Ukraine from over a decade ago. You figure out who the two future GMs are.

Trainings DVDs by Adrian Mikhalchishin in the ChessBase Shop

Replay all games of the round

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Current standings

Information and photos supplied by FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Friday, May 3rd 2013 at 14:00
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
½-½
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
½-½
GM Yifan Hou 2617
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
1-0
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
½-½
GM Anna Ushenina 2491
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
½-½
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
1-0
WGM Olga Girya 2463
Round 2 on Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 14:00
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
½-½
WGM Olga Girya ½-½
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
½-½
GM Anna Muzychuk 1-0
GM Anna Ushenina 2491
½-½
GM 1-0 2522
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
1-0
WGM ½-½ 2298
GM Yifan Hou 2617
1-0
IM Bela Khotenashvili ½-½
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
½-½
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 0-1
Round 3 on Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 14:00
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
½-½
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
1-0
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
1-0
GM Yifan Hou 2617
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
½-½
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
½-½
GM Anna Ushenina 2491
WGM Olga Girya 2463
0-1
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
Round 4 on Monday, May 6th 2013 at 14:00
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
0-1
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
GM Anna Ushenina 2491
½-½
WGM Olga Girya 2463
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
½-½
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
GM Yifan Hou 2617
1-0
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
1-0
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
1-0
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
1-0
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
½-½
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
½-½
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
1-0
GM Yifan Hou 2617
WGM Olga Girya 2463
0-1
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
½-½
GM Anna Ushenina 2491
Round 6 on Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 14:00
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491   GM Anna Ushenina 2491
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544   GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
GM Yifan Hou 2617   WGM Olga Girya 2463
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545   GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517   GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505   WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
Round 7 on Friday, May 10th 2013 at 14:00
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298   GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522   IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585   GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
WGM Olga Girya 2463   GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548   GM Yifan Hou 2617
GM Anna Ushenina 2491   WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491   WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
GM Yifan Hou 2617   GM Anna Ushenina 2491
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545   GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517   WGM Olga Girya 2463
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505   GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298   GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522   GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585   WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
WGM Olga Girya 2463   IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548   GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
GM Anna Ushenina 2491   GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544   GM Yifan Hou 2617
Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491   GM Yifan Hou 2617
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545   WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517   GM Anna Ushenina 2491
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505   GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298   WGM Olga Girya 2463
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522   GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585   GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
WGM Olga Girya 2463   GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548   WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
GM Anna Ushenina 2491   IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544   GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517
GM Yifan Hou 2617   GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545

Links

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