FIDE Geneva Grand Prix Round 8

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Official Website Report - 4 decisive games. Muzychuk and Khotenashvili still tied for first.

In the eighth round of the Neva Fondation Women Grand Prix the game between the two leaders Anna Muzychuk and Bela Khotenashvili finished in a draw and so both players keep their lead before the rest day. Kateryna Lagno and Tatiana Kosintseva won their games and now share third place half a point behind.

One of the central games of the tournament was the encounter between Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina as in a few month's time they will play in the World Championship match in China. The world champion Anna Ushenina outplayed Hou Yifan with black pieces after 40 moves and after 8 rounds shares 5th place with Ju Wenjun, who lost against Alexandra Kosteniuk today. The game between Viktorija Cmilyte and Tuvshintugs Batchimeg finished in a draw.

The standings after 8 rounds

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Dzagnidze-Lagno 0-1

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Nana Dzagnidze got a big advantage after the opening, as her pieces were placed better than opponent's and she had good play on the queen’s side. It was possible to increase her advantage step by step by playing 21.Rf2-22.Rb2 but Nana decided to grab a pawn on the King’s side which also seemed logical. Despite the fact that she opened the g-file for Black, her position was still much better. At the same time Black got very good practical chances, as it was not easy for White to play precisely under time pressure. After few inaccurate moves Georgian player should have forced a draw but missed 35…Rb3 and after that it was Black who started to play for win. After 79 moves Katerina Lagno won the game.

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Khotenashvili-Muzychuk 1/2-1/2

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The first draw of the tournament for the uncompromising Georgian player! Anna Muzychuk didn’t have problems equalizing with Black and after 12…Qb6 transferred the game into the equal ending. The game finished after a three-fold repetition.

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Tuvshintugs-Cmilyte 1/2-1/2

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The game finished in draw but only after the evaluation of the position changed a few times! The position was about equal after the opening but then Viktorija transferred the position into an endgame where her pawn structure was worse than her opponent's. After 37.g4 h5 White got a slightly better position and after 42.h5 Tuvshintugs Batchimeg could have got a decisive advantage. White missed her chances after 48.Rg6 as the rook endgame was drawish.

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Kosintseva-Girya 1-0

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Tatiana Kosintseva decided to play a new line with 7.Be3 in Caro-Kann, compared to her games against Alexandra Kosteniuk where she chose 7.b4. Olga Girya was not ready for this variation and Bf3 seemed a dubious decision. Black started to have problems with development and after 13.c4 Qa5 Olga Girya's position became hopeless. During the press-conference Olga pointed out it would be better to play Qa5 on the 12th move instead of Nf5.

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Hou - Ushenina 0-1

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This was a game of the tournament for both players - in September they will play match for Women's World Championship title in the home city of Hou Yifan.  See the analysis at the official website here by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin.

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Kosteniuk - Ju 1-0

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