Women's Grand Prix in Lopota begins
6/19/2014 – Lopota, Georgia is the host of the fifth Women's Grand Prix in the 2013-2014 series. The games have begun with an incredibly strong field. World Champion Hou Yifan and Koneru Humpy lead the pack of players trying to win the tournament and accumulate Grand Prix points. Yesterday was the opening ceremony and today we already had action packed games and missed chances.
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The fourth stage of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series 2013-2014 is taking place at the Ugra Chess Academy, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from the from the 19th of June until the 1st of July 2014. It is a twelve-player round robin with time controls of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes plus an additional 30 seconds per move for the rest of the game. The total prize fund is 60,000, with the winner getting 10,000 Euro. |
Opening Ceremony
The fifth Women's Grand Prix in the 2013-14 series has begun in Lopota, Georgia.
The city of Lopota is next to the lake of the same name in Georgia
Georgian player Beata Khotenashvili with her daughter at the opening ceremony
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov came to open the event
Ju Wenjun with a beautiful view in the background
As usual for the Grand Prix series the event started off with folkloric dances
And in action!
World Champion Hou Yifan is the top rated player and got the number three seed
Anna Muzychuk being presented a traditional shawl as a gift
The participants, from left to right: Kosteniuk, Dzagnidze, Harika, Hou Yifan, Stefanova, Muzychuk A, Danielian, Muminova, Zhao Xue, Humpy, Khotenashvili and Ju Wenjun
Round One
| Round 01 – June 19 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 |
1-0
|
Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 |
½-½
|
Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 |
1-0
|
Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 |
1-0
|
Danielian, Elina | 2460 |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 |
½-½
|
Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 |
½-½
|
Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 |
Koneru Humpy 1-0 Stefanova, Antoaneta
The combination of a dubious opening and the strength of Humpy's play was sufficient for White to take this game. It was very interesting and quite complex, with many tactics and difficult decisions, but at the end of the day when the smoke cleared the resulting endgame was complex for the Bulgarian player.
Antoaneta fell victim to India's top female player
Zhao Xue ½-½ Khotenashvili, Bela
The fighting spirit of both players was commendable, but the game was very equal throughout and no real fireworks occured.
Dzagnidze, Nana ½-½ Kosteniuk, Alexandra
White missed a golden opportunity:
[Event "FIDE Women's GP Lopota 2014"] [Site "Lopota"] [Date "2014.06.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2541"] [BlackElo "2532"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2kr1b1r/2p2ppp/p1pqb3/4p3/NP2Pn2/P4N2/1BQP1PPP/R4RK1 b - - 0 14"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "GEO"] 14... Nd3 {Black's position is in shambles and the only thing that is holding it together is that knight on d3. White can eliminate it, but she does not see the opportunity.} 15. Rfc1 $6 {An exchange offering, but Kosteniuk does not bite.} (15. Bd4 $1 {Blocking the defense of the knight is lethal.} Nf4 (15... exd4 16. Qxd3 {leaves Black's position helpless. To begin with the a6 pawn cannot be defended.} Kb7 17. Nc5+ $18) 16. Bxe5 $18) 15... f6 16. Ne1 {Take my rook, why don't you?!} Nxc1 17. Rxc1 Qd7 18. d4 {White still has more than enough compensation, but she loses her way quickly.} exd4 19. Nd3 c5 $1 { Liberating Black's position.} 20. Ndxc5 Bxc5 21. Nxc5 (21. Qxc5 $1 {Was the only way to retain the advantage. The tactical justification is as follows:} Kb8 (21... Qd6 22. Qa7 $1 Kd7 23. Nc5+ Ke7 24. Nb7 Ra8 25. Qxa8 Rxa8 26. Nxd6 cxd6 27. Bxd4 {and to be honest Black should survive this endgame relatively easily.}) 22. Bxd4 $16 Qxd4 $2 23. Qxc7+ Ka8 24. Nb6+ Qxb6 25. Qxb6 $18) 21... d3 {Now White has nothing.} 22. Nxd3 Bb3 $1 23. Qc5 Kb8 24. Bd4 Qxd4 25. Qxc7+ Ka8 26. Qc6+ Ka7 27. Qc7+ Ka8 28. Qc6+ Ka7 29. Qc7+ 1/2-1/2
Alexandra salvaged a position that was nearly resignable had her opponent found the correct path
Ju Wenjun 1-0 Danielian, Elina
White held the advantage throughout the game and Black made some mistakes in the endgame that helped the Chinese player. The game went down to a rook vs. knight endgame in which Danielian had one passed pawn against Jun Wenjun's single remaining last pawn. A mistake let Ju Wenjun block the passer and win easier than she should have.
The Chinese players scored 2.5/3 today. Ju Wenjun did her part by beating Elina Danielian.
Dronavalli Harika ½-½ Muzychuk, Anna
The Indian player found herself with a weak but extra pawn throughout most of the game. However she was unable to make progress in a very long rook endgame and eventually the game reached a draw.
Hou Yifan 1-0 Muminova, Nafisa
White's relatively quiet set up susprisingly almost backfired badly:
[Event "FIDE Women's GP Lopota 2014"] [Site "Lopota"] [Date "2014.06.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Muminova, Nafisa"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2332"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2kr3r/ppp1q1pp/2p2pn1/8/1PNpP1b1/P2P1N1P/2P1QPP1/RR4K1 b - - 0 15"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "GEO"] 15... Nf4 16. Qd2 {White held a solid edge, but she allowed Black's position to become too active. Here Black had an ingenious resource.} Nxh3+ $2 (16... g5 $3 {Brilliant! The bishop doesn't have to be taken, but if it is not White is just worse and Black will retreat it and continue pushing on the kingside.} 17. hxg4 h5 $1 {The point, the h-file opening is difficult to meet.} 18. g3 hxg4 19. Qd1 Qh7 20. Nh4 f5 $1 {And White will not survive.}) 17. gxh3 Bxh3 {This is just harmless. White is not even positionally worse, there are no threats on the kingside.} 18. a4 Qf7 19. Qf4 g5 20. Qh2 {The rest is cake for the World Champion.} Be6 21. Nfd2 f5 22. b5 c5 23. b6 axb6 24. a5 f4 25. axb6 cxb6 26. Nd6+ Rxd6 27. Ra8+ Kc7 28. Rxh8 Rd7 29. Qh6 Qe7 30. Nc4 1-0
Not the cleanest point, but a point is a point: Hou Yifan
Nafisa missed a golden chance to upset the World Champion today
Round One Games
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
Photos by Alina l'Ami, from the official website
Schedule and results
| Round 01 – June 19 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 |
1-0
|
Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 |
½-½
|
Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 |
1-0
|
Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 |
1-0
|
Danielian, Elina | 2460 |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 |
½-½
|
Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 |
½-½
|
Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 |
| Round 02 –June 20 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | |
| Danielian, Elina | 2460 | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | |
| Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | Ju Wenjun | 2532 | |
| Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | Hou Yifan | 2629 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 | Zhao Xue | 2538 | |
| Round 03 –June 21 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Zhao Xue | 2538 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 | Koneru Humpy | 2613 | |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 | Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | Danielian, Elina | 2460 | |
| Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | |
| Round 04 –June 22 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | |
| Danielian, Elina | 2460 | Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | |
| Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | |
| Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 | Ju Wenjun | 2532 | |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 | Hou Yifan | 2629 | |
| Round 05 –June 24 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Hou Yifan | 2629 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 | Zhao Xue | 2538 | |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | Koneru Humpy | 2613 | |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | |
| Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | Danielian, Elina | 2460 | |
| Round 06 –June 25 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | Danielian, Elina | 2460 | |
| Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | |
| Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 | Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 | Ju Wenjun | 2532 | |
| Round 07 –June 26 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | Hou Yifan | 2629 | |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | Zhao Xue | 2538 | |
| Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | Koneru Humpy | 2613 | |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | |
| Danielian, Elina | 2460 | Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | |
| Round 08 –June 27 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | |
| Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | Danielian, Elina | 2460 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 | Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 | Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | |
| Round 09 – June 29 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | |
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | Ju Wenjun | 2532 | |
| Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | Hou Yifan | 2629 | |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | Zhao Xue | 2538 | |
| Danielian, Elina | 2460 | Koneru Humpy | 2613 | |
| Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | |
| Round 10 –June 30 2014, 15:00h | ||||
| Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | |
| Koneru Humpy | 2613 | Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | |
| Zhao Xue | 2538 | Danielian, Elina | 2460 | |
| Hou Yifan | 2629 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | |
| Ju Wenjun | 2532 | Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | |
| Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | |
| Round 11 – July 01 2014, 13:00h | ||||
| Dronavalli Harika | 2503 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2488 | |
| Muzychuk, Anna | 2561 | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2541 | |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2532 | Ju Wenjun | 2532 | |
| Danielian, Elina | 2460 | Hou Yifan | 2629 | |
| Muminova, Nafisa | 2332 | Zhao Xue | 2538 | |
| Khotenashvili, Bela | 2518 | Koneru Humpy | 2613 | |
LinksThe 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. |
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