FIDE Geneva Grand Prix Round 6
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Official Report - Four leaders after six rounds
Tatiana Kosintseva and Bela Khotenashvili outplayed Viktorija Cmilyte and Batchimeg Tuvshintugs respectively and joined the leading group. Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk drew their games and also share first place with 4 out of 6. After 5 draws in the previous rounds the World Champion Anna Ushenina won her first game in the tournament and is half a point behind the leaders. Her opponent Alexandra Kosteniuk lost her third game in a row. Olga Girya played very confidently against former World Champion Hou Yifan and made a draw after 70 moves.
Ju Wenjun-Lagno 1/2-1/2
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Ju Wenjun avoided aggressive lines in the opening and played 6.e3. Kateryna Lagno didn’t need to solve any opening problems with Black and quickly equalized. The players exchanged a few pieces and the position became very drawish. Kateryna Lagno wore the ribbon of Saint George today to celebrate Victory Day (9th of May) in the former republics of the USSR as an act of commemoration and remembrance.
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Hou–Girya 1/2-1/2
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At the press-conference after the first round Olga Girya said that this tournament would be a great opportunity for her to play with the top women players. “I’ve never played against Hou Yifan and looking forward to meet her over the board”, said the Russian player. Five rounds later her dream came true and a Caro-Kann, the usual opening choice of Olga Girya, appeared on the board. According to Hou Yifan, she decided not to prepare too much for the opening but simply play chess today. The former World Champion tried to create an attack on the King’s side but the Russian player had good counter play in the center. The position became very complex but Olga found precise moves to avoid the threats of her opponent. Black simplified the position and transferred into the endgame with extra pawn, which eventually finished in a draw.
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Dzagnidze-Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
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Nana Dzagnidze spent a lot of time in the opening trying to find the right move order, as she was not very familiar with the position after 7…Bb4. Anna decided to avoid the Carlsbad pawn structure after 12…ed and took on d5 with c-pawn. The Georgian player managed to get a position with slight edge and could have had better chances by playing 16.Nd5 Nd5 17. ed ed 18. d6!? After 16. Bg5 Black managed to find the right way to equalize and after 33 moves the game finished in a draw by three-fold repetition.
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Khotenashvili-Batchimeg 1-0
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After six rounds of play Bela Khotenashvili remains the only player who hasn’t made any draws, winning 4 games and losing 2. Tuvshintugs Batchimeg surprised her opponent in the opening, so the Georgian player spent a lot of time trying to choose one of many possible lines. Black managed to get a position with slight edge but later on the Mongolian player missed an interesting opportunity to play 14…bc instead of Nc6, opening the b-file for the rooks. As Batchimeg pointed out at the press-conference she had to play Rfd8-Rd5 instead of Qf5. The Mongolian player felt she missed her advantage somewhere and became upset during the game. It wasn't necessary to sacrifice a knight on c6 as after b3 Black's position became lost.
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Kosteniuk-Ushenina 0-1
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Despite unsuccessful results in the previous rounds Alexandra Kosteniuk fights hard in every game and chooses main-line variations. Anna Ushenina spent a lot of time in the opening trying to calculate many different lines and after 20 moves she had only 3 minutes on her clock. Alexandra could have tried 18. Nc6 or 23. Be5 24. Nc6 but for some reason the former world champion avoided this move. After 23. Bc1 b4 White’s position became worse and after a few more moves Black won a pawn. Black didn’t play precisely and White could have kept chances to hold the position by playing 31.Bc3. But after 31.Bc1 Ba6 Black's position was absolutely winning.
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Kosintseva-Cmilyte 1-0
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Game analysis available at the official website, by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin.
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