Ankara Grand Prix Round 6

Official Website Report

All the games were decisive in the sixth round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Ankara.

Humpy Koneru won against co-leader Ruan Lufei in a variation which had happened already in the game Kosintseva-Koneru. Anna Muzychuk showed fighting spirit and managed to win against Betul Yildiz after 130 moves of tough fight.

Both Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk have 5 out of 6 and keep leading in the Grand Prix at the moment. Monika Socko celebrated her first victory over Turkish player Kubra Ozturk. Tatiana Kosintseva defeated Viktorija Cmilyte in a rook endgame.

Chinese players Ju Wenjun and Zhao Xue outplayed Antoaneta Stefanova and Munguntuul Batkhuyag respectively and share the third place in the tournament.

The standings after 6 rounds

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Munguntuul Batkhuyag-Zhao Xue 0-1

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Munguntuul Batkhuyag: I think it was better to play g3 instead of Kh2 because after Black managed to kick out my knight from h5 it’s not easy to find a plan. It was not a good idea to play f4 on my 40th move, the position became lost. Instead I could have stayed and waited. I didn’t see how black can improve their position.

Zhao Xue: In the opening I tried to keep as many pieces on the board as possible. She played this line with Tania and Anna. Since May we’ve played 4 games against each other. The previous game finished in a draw, so I wanted to change something because the last three games were very bad. Today I think I played better than before. Even without f4 her position was worse. It was easier for me to play it. My idea was just to keep the position, to play slowly. My opponent had no chances to play actively. I missed some chances before the first time control, I think I had more active moves.

Tatiana Kosintseva-Viktorija Cmilyte 1-0

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Tatiana Kosintseva: We played quite popular line of Najdorf today. I’m not sure if Re8 or Rd8 have played before. I thought white has better position after 14.Nf5 Bf5 15.ef as my bishop on b3 is very strong. I was not sure about my move f4, either it works or not. I had feeling that Black could have survived in that rook endgame because I didn’t play well before.

Anna Muzychuk-Betul Yildiz 1-0

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Anna Muzuchuk: I just chose the variation where the position was about equal. Maybe I have some chances but very little ones. At one moment I had a feeling the game will finish soon after some repetitions but then Betul started to think too much and it was not easy for her to play under time pressure. I think the decisive mistake was when she played h5 because I’ve got this idea Bh7-f5-Bg6.

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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.

Report adapted from the official website. Photos from the official website.  Games via TWIC.