Women’s World Championship – Ushenina in the semis

by ChessBase
11/21/2012 – IM Anna Ushenina from Ukraine faced a formidable opponent in round four of this knock-out event: Russian GM Nadezhda Kosintseva, rated close to 90 points above her. In the first game Anna was on the verge of defeat but managed to draw. In the second she won nicely with a pawn sacrifice. Stefanova beat Sebag to equalise their match. There will be three tiebreak encounters on Thursday.

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The Women’s World Chess Cup 2012 is being staged by the Ugorian Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk from 11 November to 2 December. The best 64 chess players in the world are taking part in the competition, which consist of six knock-out rounds of two games, which reduce the participants from 64 to 32, 16, 8, 4, and 2. The final consists of four games, the winner will play a match against the winner of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2011-2012 (Hou Yifan), which will determine the World Champion among women.

Round four

The first game between Nadezhda Kosintseva (Russia) and Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) was extremely nervous and full of action. The players castled to the opposite sides of the board and began preparing for mutual attacks.

[Event "WWCC 2012"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2012.11.20"] [Round "41.3"] [White "Kosintseva, Nadezhda"] [Black "Ushenina, Anna"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B94"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:11:20"] [BlackClock "0:30:44"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qe2 h6 8. Bh4 g6 9. O-O-O e5 10. Nb3 Be7 11. f3 b5 12. a3 Qc7 13. Kb1 Kf8 14. g4 Bb7 15. Bf2 Kg7 16. h4 Rab8 17. Be3 Nb6 18. Bc1 Nc4 19. Rd3 Ba8 20. Rg1 b4 21. axb4 Qb6 22. Rg2 Qxb4 23. g5 hxg5 24. hxg5 Nd7 25. Rd1 Na3+ 26. bxa3 Qxc3 27. Bb2 Qc7 28. Qc4 Bc6 29. f4 Qb7 30. Rf2 Nb6 31. Qxa6 Qxa6 32. Bxa6 Na4 33. Bc4 Nxb2 34. Kxb2 exf4 35. Rxf4 {[#]} f6 $4 {Ushinina: "I had spent too much time in the middlegame, and made a couple of serious mistakes under time pressure, when all I had to do was calculating a couple of simple lines."} (35... Be8 {for instance would have kept Black on the offensive.}) 36. Ka2 $4 {A missed chance. } ({"When I played 35...f6, Nadezhda began to think, and I instantly noticed that she can take on f6 twice. However, she rejected this move."} 36. gxf6+ Bxf6+ 37. Rxf6 $1 Kxf6 38. Rxd6+) 36... Rhf8 {White still has the advantage, but is now unable to turn it into a full point.} 37. Nd4 Bd7 38. Be6 Ba4 39. Rdf1 Rbe8 40. Bd5 Bd7 41. Be6 Ba4 42. Bb3 Bd7 43. Be6 {and draw by repetition. " In the final position Nadezhda still had a big advantage and could torture be for a long time," said Anna Ushinina.} 1/2-1/2


Trouble in the middlegame: IM Anna Ushenina was lucky that her opponent ...


... GM Nadezhda Kosintseva missed a clear win and let Anna slip away with a draw

In the second game Anna sacrificed a pawn and, after Nadezhda some imprecise moves by her opponent won it back with a decisive advantage. For the first time in her life the 27-year-old Ukrainian IM has advanced to the semifinals of such an event.

Former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) lost her first game at this championship. She was defeated by Marie Sebag (France) in a Closed Anti-Marshall, where Stefanova, playing black, obtained a small advantage. However, she did not utilize all the benefits of her position and allowed White to make a break in the center. After that Stefanova lost the thread of the game and started making mediocre moves, while her opponent played flawlessly and increased the advantage. Being in time trouble Stefanova committed a blunder and soon resigned.


French GM Marie Sebag during her first game of round four


In the second must-win game the Bulgarian GM turned the tables...

[Event "WWCC 2012"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2012.11.21"] [Round "42.1"] [White "Stefanova, Antoaneta"] [Black "Sebag, Marie"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D45"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:02:44"] [BlackClock "0:01:24"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. a3 a5 12. e4 e5 13. Rd1 Rc8 14. h3 Qe7 15. Bg5 h6 16. Be3 c5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Nxb5 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bb8 20. Bc4 Qe5 21. Qb3 a4 22. Qxa4 Qh5 23. Kg2 Qg6+ 24. Kf1 Qh5 25. Kg2 Qg6+ 26. Kf1 Qh5 {Black wants to force a perpetual to win the match.} 27. Be2 Qxh3+ 28. Ke1 Be5 29. Nc3 Rfd8 30. Qb5 Bd4 31. Qxb7 Bxe3 32. Rxd8+ Rxd8 33. Qc7 Bd2+ 34. Kd1 Rc8 35. Qb7 Bf4 36. Kc2 Qe6 37. Qa6 ({After} 37. Bc4 Qd7 (37... Qxc4 38. Qxc8+ Kh7 39. Qf5+ {and White wins either the knight or the bishop}) 38. Qxd7 Nxd7 39. a4 {White has a fairly decisive advantage.}) 37... Rc6 38. Qc4 Qe5 39. a4 Rd6 40. Rd1 Rxd1 41. Nxd1 Qd6 42. Ne3 Nd7 43. a5 {After a number of inaccuracies White now has an advantage she can press to a win.} Ne5 44. Qd5 Nc6 45. Qxd6 Bxd6 46. a6 Bb8 47. Kc3 Nb4 48. Nd5 Nc6 49. Kc4 Ba7 50. Nc3 h5 51. Nb5 Bb6 52. Nd6 Na7 53. f4 h4 54. Bg4 Kf8 55. Nc8 Nxc8 56. Bxc8 Ke7 57. Kb5 Ba7 58. Kc6 c4 59. Kb7 Bxf2 60. a7 Bxa7 61. Kxa7 Kd6 62. Kb6 g5 63. fxg5 Ke5 64. Bf5 Kd4 65. Kc6 1-0

In their first encounter in round four Zhao Xue (China) and Harika Dronavalli (India) played a good positional game. The Indian demonstrated an opening variation that was specially prepared for the championship, and equalized easily. The game quickly transposed to a symmetrical ending, where Black sacrificed a pawn for the initiative. However, White parried all threats, and the game ended peacefully.

The second game between was very dramatic. The Indian was better after the opening, but then started to make mistakes and lost a pawn. After a long maneuvere Black won another pawn. By that time White’s position was basically hopeless. But the Indian player began to set up traps...

[Event "WWCC 2012"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2012.11.21"] [Round "42.4"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Zhao, Xue"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E25"] [PlyCount "140"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:05:52"] [BlackClock "0:02:32"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5 9. Nh3 Qa5 10. e4 fxe4 11. fxe4 Nf6 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Qxc5+ 14. Kh1 Nc6 15. a4 Qxc3 16. Ra3 Qa5 17. Rd3 Ne5 18. Bd2 Qc5 19. Be3 Qe7 20. Rd4 Bd7 21. Ng5 Bc6 22. Bf4 Nfd7 23. Qd2 h6 24. Nh3 Ng6 25. Bd6 Rxf1+ 26. Bxf1 Qf6 27. Kg1 Nde5 28. a5 Nf7 29. Ba3 e5 30. Rb4 Nd6 31. Nf2 a6 32. Qe1 Nb5 33. Bc1 Nd4 34. Ng4 Qd6 35. Rb2 Bb5 36. Rf2 Bxf1 37. Qxf1 Rf8 38. Qc4+ Kh7 39. Rxf8 Nxf8 40. Be3 Nc6 41. h3 Qe6 42. Qc3 Nd7 43. Kh2 Qd6 44. Qb3 h5 45. Nf2 Nxa5 {Black is two pawns up and basically winning.} 46. Qf7 Nf6 47. Bg5 Qd7 48. Qf8 Qe6 49. Qb4 b6 50. Nh1 Kg6 51. Bh4 Nb7 52. Ng3 Nc5 53. Qe1 Ncd7 54. Nf5 Kh7 55. Qe3 Qf7 56. Nd6 Qe6 57. Nf5 a5 58. Bg5 g6 59. Nh4 Nc5 60. Bh6 Ng8 61. Bg5 Qc6 62. Nf3 Qxe4 63. Qd2 Qd3 64. Qa2 Qb3 65. Qd2 e4 66. Qd8 exf3 $4 {After so many tricky moves by her opponent Black falls into a trap and drops the full point that would have taken her into the semifinals.} 67. Qc7+ {and the perpetual is unavoidable.} Kh8 68. Qe5+ Kh7 69. Qc7+ Kh8 70. Qe5+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

Ju Wenjun (China), playing white, selected a very sharp variation of the King's Indian against her compatriot Huang Qian. In the previous match Ju had faced this line as black against Natalia Zhukova, and probably liked White’s options. However, it seems she hadn’t studied it well enough. White made an exchange sacrifice early in the game, but did not receive full compensation for it and were forced to defend. Black returned the exchange and kept an extra pawn, however, Huang Qian was unable to convert her advantage and eventually had to settle for a draw.

The second game was the shortest of the round and, possibly, the championship. The players went for a peaceful opening variation and agreed to a draw on 17th move. The all-Chinese quarterfinal will continue tomorrow in the tiebreak.

All results of round four

Name
G1
G2  R1  R2  r3  r4  B1  B2  SD
Tot
Sebag, Marie (FRA)
1
0
             
1.0
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL)
0
1
             
1.0
 
Ju, Wenjun (CHN)
½
½
             
1.0
Huang, Qian (CHN)
½
½
             
1.0
 
Kosintseva, Nadezhda (RUS)
½
0
             
0.5
Ushenina, Anna (UKR)
½
1
             
1.5
 
Zhao, Xue (CHN)
½
½
             
1.0
Harika, Dronavalli (IND)
½
½
             
1.0

Credit: The above report was based on article published by the official web site, which has some extraordinary pictures, were made by Anna Burtasova, Etery Kublashvili, Vladimir Barsky and local photographers. Many more images are to be found here.


The live video coverage is provided by Mark Gluhovsky from ChessTV. There will be English language commentary by GM Alexander Khalifman. For the first time Mark is going to try to supply commentary in Chinese: GM Peng Zhaoqing speaking from her home in Holland. The Russian commentary will come from GM Sergei Shipov, working out of Moscow.


Links

The games will be 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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