Koneru Humpy Leads Ankara Grand Prix
Humpy Koneru grabbed the sole lead at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Ankara in round seven.
Humpy beat Ju Wenjun to take her score to an impressive 6 points out of 7 games played so far.
Humpy's main rival Anna Muzychuk could only draw with black against Zhao Xue, and lies half a point behind the leader on 5½. The Chinese pair of Zhao Xue and Ruan Lufei are next in the standings, a further point back on 4½.
The only other victory of the seventh round was Tatiana Kosintseva's win with black against Monika Socko.
The standings after 7 rounds
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2593 | 6 |
| 2 | Muzychuk, Anna | SLO | 2606 | 5½ |
| 3 | Zhao, Xue | CHN | 2549 | 4½ |
| 4 | Ruan, Lufei | CHN | 2492 | 4½ |
| 5 | Cmilyte, Viktorija | LTU | 2520 | 4 |
| 6 | Ju, Wenjun | CHN | 2528 | 4 |
| 7 | Kosintseva, Tatiana | RUS | 2524 | 3½ |
| 8 | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag | MGL | 2434 | 3½ |
| 9 | Yildiz, Betul Cemre | TUR | 2341 | 2 |
| 10 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | BUL | 2502 | 1½ |
| 11 | Ozturk, Kubra | TUR | 2294 | 1½ |
| 12 | Socko, Monika | POL | 2463 | 1½ |
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Viktorija Cmilyte and Ruan Lufei
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Betul Yildiz and Kubra Ozturk
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Antoaneta Stefanova with Munguntuul Batkhuyag standing
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Humpy Koneru and Ju Wenjun
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Zhao Xue and Anna Muzychuk shake hands at the start of their game
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Monika Socko
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The final round of the Ankara Grand Prix is on 28 September. Rounds start at 15:00 local time (12:00 UTC), with rest days on 20 and 25 September. Live games broadcast here.
Photos from the official website. Games via TWIC.
