Women's Grand Prix, Round 9: Alexandra Kosteniuk defends lead, but Humpy Koneru still has chances

by Klaus Besenthal
2/12/2023 – In round 9 of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Munich, Alexandra Kosteniuk drew with Black against Nana Dzagnidze and now leads the tournament with 7.0/9. One point behind follows Humpy Koneru who won against Elisabeth Pähtz. In round 10 on Sunday Kosteniuk and Koneru will play against each other. The symbolic first move in the game between Zhansaya Abdumalik and Dinara Wagner was made by Maja Buchholz, German Champion U16 Girls 2022. | Photos: Mark Livshitz (FIDE)
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FIDE Women's Grand Prix

The game between Nana Dzagnidze and Alexandra Kosteniuk ended in a repetition - in a position that was certainly not better for Dzagnidze. But with this draw Kosteniuk defended her lead in the tournament.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.0-0 c5 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.h3 Nc6 11.Bd2 Bb7 12.Rc1 Ba5 13.Na4 c4 14.Bb1 Rb8 15.b3 Bxd2 16.Nxd2 Qa5 17.Nf3 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.exd4 cxb3 20.axb3 Re8 21.Bd3 Qb4 22.Nc5 g6 23.Ba6 Bc6 24.Nd3 Qb6 25.Ne5 Re6
The position is equal, but still offers a lot of play. 26.Qd3?! This looks risky - and might put the bishop on a6 in danger. 26.Be2 Be8 27.Rc3= 26...Be8 27.Rc8 27.Bc8? Bb5 Possible was 27.Ra1 Qxb3 28.Rfb1 Qxd3 29.Bxd3 Rxb1+ 30.Bxb1 27...Qxb3 28.Qxb3 Rxb3 29.Ra1 Rb4 30.Nf3 Re7 31.Ra8 Kg7 32.Bd3 Ba4
Black is a pawn up, but it is not easy to convert it to a win. 33.Rc8 Ne4 34.Rd8 Nc3 35.Rc8 Ne4 Or 35...Ne2+ 36.Bxe2 Rxe2 and Black is better though White should hold. 36.Rd8 Nc3 37.Rc8 Ne4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Dzagnidze,N2517Kosteniuk,A2519½–½2023E53FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-239.4

 

Elisabeth Pähtz wanted to win against Humpy Koneru and opted a risky approach. However, without success:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.cxd5 b5 10.e5 dxe5 11.Bxc5 Re8 12.Bxb5 Nbd7 13.Be3 Ng4 14.0-0 In a previous game - the only game with this position in the database - Levon Aronian here tried 14.Qd2. Nxe3 15.fxe3 Rb8
All this was probably preparation. 16.Kh1 a6 17.Bc6 e4 18.Nd2 18.Nd4 looks more obvious, but Humpy's move is also good. 18...f5?! Defending e4, but weakening the king's position. Better was 18...Rf8! to move out of the pin. After 19.Ncxe4 Ne5 Black has very active pieces and enough compensation for the two pawns. 19.Nc4 Rf8 Perhaps 19...Ne5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 was better. 20.d6 Kh8 21.Rc1?! Giving White's advantage away. Better was 21.Na4! to stop Black's knight from coming to c5. 21...Nf6 Better was 21...Nc5!= The knight will go to d3 securing Black enough counterplay. 22.b3 Be6 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.Bxd5
Things calmed down a bit and White is a pawn ahead. 24...Rb5? Perhaps it was better to play 24...Qd7 followed by Rbd8 and Ne8. 25.Bc6 25.Be6!+- looks even stronger, e.g. Re8? 26.d7! Rxe6 27.Ne5!+- 25...Rc5 26.Ba4 Ng4 27.Qd2 Qh4 28.g3 Qh5 29.Rc2
White parried the attack and the d-pawn now decides the game. 29...Rd8 30.b4 Rcc8 31.d7 Rc7 32.Nd6 Rxc2 33.Qxc2 Ne5 34.Nb7 Rf8 35.d8Q Rxd8 36.Nxd8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Koneru,H2572Paehtz,E24641–02023E73FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-239.1

 

Humpy Koneru can still catch Alexandra Kosteniuk - should she win the head-to-head clash between the two leaders in round 10 on Sunday.

Dinara Wagner blundered in a promising position against Zhansaya Abdumalik:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.h3 Ne5 11.h4 gxh4 12.Bxh4 Ng6 13.Bg3 Nc6 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Bc4 Qa5 16.Qf3 Rf8 17.Bb3 Bd7 18.Rh5 Ne5 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.0-0-0 0-0-0 21.Rdh1 Qb6 22.Na4 Qa7 23.g3 Bd4 24.R1h2 Kc7 25.Qf4 Bg7 26.Qd2 c5 27.Qa5+ Kb8 28.Rh1 Qb7 29.Nb6 Ka7 30.Nc4 Be6 31.Na3
Black is better but the position is complicated. 31...c4? A serious error. Better was 31...Rc8! e.g. 32.f3 c4 33.Rb5 Qc7 32.Rb5! Qc6 33.Ba4 Suddenly, Black is lost. Rc8 Or 33...Bd4 34.Rb4 Bb6 35.Bxc6 Bxa5 36.Rb7+ Ka8 37.Rxe7+ Kb8 38.c3+- 34.Rb4 Qc5 35.Nb5+ Kb8 36.Nc7+ Qxb4 37.Nxa6+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Abdumalik,Z2496Wagner,D24141–02023B90FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-239.3

 

Alina Kashlinskaya showed her tactical skills in her game against Zhu Jiner and impressed by precise calculation just after the time control:

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.Be2 Bd7 8.h4 0-0-0 9.Nbd2 Na5 10.h5 h6 11.Rb1 Ne7 12.Nf1 Kb8 13.Bf4 g5 14.hxg6 Nxg6 15.Be3 Be7 16.Ng3 f6 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.Nh5 Be7 19.Nf4 Be8 20.Qc2 Nf8 21.Ne5 Nc6 22.Neg6 Nxg6 23.Nxg6 Bxg6 24.Qxg6 e5 25.dxe5 Bc5 26.Bxc5 Qxc5 27.0-0 Nxe5 28.Qh5 Qd6 29.f4 Nd7 30.Rbd1 Qb6+ 31.Rf2 Rde8 32.Bf3 Nf6 33.Qh4 h5 34.Rd4 Ka8 35.f5 Ng4 36.Re2 Nf6 37.Rxe8+ Rxe8 38.Kh2 a6 39.Rd2 Ng4+ 40.Bxg4 hxg4
41.Rf2? A blunder after the time control that loses immediately. After 41.Rxd5! Rb8!= the position remains sharp and double-edged and White should not lose. 41...Qe3! 42.Rf1 g3+? This check looks logical and tempting, but is not the best. Correct was 42...Rg8‼ Threatening 43...g4-g3+ 44. Kh3 Qe5. 43.g3 43.f6 g3+ 44.Kh3? 44.Kh1 Re8 45.f7 Rf8 Es droht Txf7. 44...Qe6+ 43...Qe2+ 44.Kg1 Qxb2 45.f6 Qxc3 46.f7 Rf8 47.Qxg4 Qxa3-+ 43.Kh3 Rg8 43...Qe5 44.f6!= 44.Qf4? 44.Qh7! Qe8 45.f6 Rh8 46.Qxh8 Qxh8+ 47.Kxg3 Qg8+ 48.Kh3 Qf7 49.g4 offered better chances to defend. 44...Qe7 45.Rf3 Qg7 46.Qh4 Rh8 47.Qxh8+ Qxh8+ 48.Kxg3 Qf6
Now, White's pawns still have a long way to go and Black's queen controls h4. 49.Kf4 Kb8 50.g4 Qh4 51.Re3 Kc7 52.Re6 Kd7 53.Rg6 Qh2+ 54.Kg5 Qxb2 55.Rg7+ Ke8 56.f6 Qxc3 57.Rxb7 Qe5+ 58.Kg6 Qe4+ 59.Kh5 c3 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zhu,J2486Kashlinskaya,A24910–12023C02FIDE Womens Grand Prix-II 2022-239.2

 

Alina Kashlinskaya

Anna Muzychuk played with White against Tan Zhongyi but did not find much against Tan Zhongyi's Sicilian. However, Muzychuk did not want to defend passively and tried to turn the table by force. But this backfired and the Chinese won.

The game between Mariya Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli did not offer much excitement but a lot of exchanges and a more or less peaceful draw.

Results

 

Standings after round 9

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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