FIDE Geneva Grand Prix Round 7

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Official Website Report Round 7 - No draws in round 7. Muzychuk and Khotenashvili lead.

It’s well-known that women play uncompromising chess, and all six games were decisive in round seven of Neva Fondation Women Grand Prix in Geneva.  The Black victories outnumbered White’s success by 5 to 1. Anna Muzychuk outplayed another leader after 6th round Tatiana Kosintseva. Bela Khotenashvili won against Viktorija Cmilyte and Kateryna Lagno lost to Hou Yifan. As a result, the Slovenian Anna Muzychuk and Bela Khotenashvili from Georgia are tied for the first place with 5 out of 7 points. The Chinese player Ju Wenjun, who defeated Anna Ushenina today, is in sole third place half a point behind the leaders. Alexandra Kosteniuk managed to break her unfortunate series of poor results to win against Tuvshintugs Batchimeg. Nana Dzagnidze defeated Olga Girya and has +1 after 7 rounds.

The standings after 7 rounds

Tuvshintugs Batchimeg - Alexandra Kosteniuk 0-1

The Mongolian player got comfortable position with White and, as Alexandra said at the press-conference, it was not easy to find the right plan for Black. The former world champion was not sure if 10…cd was the right move as her original idea to play 11…Nd5 didn’t work because of g3.  Both opponents assessed the position as equal after 18. de but Alexandra was hoping that her black square bishop would be better than her opponent's after some exchanges.  The bishop and queen endgame looked equal but the Russian player kept on trying to find small chances. Later on she managed to grab a pawn and the Queen ending was winning for Black.

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Viktorija Cmilyte - Bela Khotenashvili  0-1

A position with opposite-side castling appeared on the board and the game became very sharp, as both players tried to find a way to their opponent's king. After 18.e6 Bela Khotenashvili played the unpredictable move 18…Ne5. According to Viktorija Cmilyte, she was calculating 20. Nd5 and 20.Ne5 but it was hard to realize that after 20.Bd3 it would be difficult to play this position with White. It seems that the best practical solution for White would be to play 20.Ne5 immediately.

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Anna Ushenina - Wenjun Ju 0-1

The shortest game of the round 7. Anna Ushenina tried to play aggressively against the Dutch Defense but it seems Ju Wenjun was better prepared today. After 9…e5 the Chinese player assessed her position as “better and more comfortable to play”. White had big problems with development and didn’t manage to get any counter play. After Black advanced the central pawns her advantage became decisive.

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Kateryna Lagno - Hou Yifan 0-1

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Before the start of the game a funny incident took place. Ju Wenjun mixed up the boards and sat in the place of Hou Yifan. Kateryna was surprised to see her opponent from the previous round. “Would you like to play against me once again?”, said the Ukrainian player and everyone laughed.

Kateryna Lagno played creatively in the opening and got playable position.  The former world champion transferred her rook from h8 to a6 but Kateryna Lagno didn’t manage to use the unfortunate position of her opponent's rook. The Ukrainian player said at the press-conference that she simply forgot that Black could play 31… ab after 31.Bb6. Both players agreed that the position of White was worse after that and Black was just increasing her advantage.

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Olga Girya - Nana Dzagnidze 0-1

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Nana Dzagnidze decided to play something new in the opening and chose the line with 4…Bb4 and 5…a5. Black managed to get enough counter play on the King’s side while White tried to create some play on the opposite side of the board. The position became sharp after 18…b5 and White played the inaccurate 20.f3. The calm 20.g3 was not dangerous as White had the defensive maneuver Rd4-Rh4. The last chance for the Russian was to play 22.e7 but after 22.Rdc1 Black got a decisive advantage and managed to convert it into a full point.

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Anna Muzychuk - Tatiana Kosintseva     1-0

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See the game analysis at the official website by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin.

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