Double Indian Win At Women's GP, Koneru Leads Overall

Why not take a selfie with grandma? GM Harika Dronavalli broke out with early wins to take the lead at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event in Chengdu, China. She then cruised with four draws late to tie for first and claim her first career title in the series. She actually eclipsed fellow Indian compatriot GM Humpy Koneru on tiebreaks, but that was mostly a formality since the duo shares the prize money and Grand Prix points evenly according to tournament rule 7.1.

All photos courtesy FIDE.

Both women earned 145 points for the fortnight of play. The result opens up a lead for Koneru on the field in the Grand Prix series. The unique rules of the event state that each woman plays three out of five events. Unlike the men's Grand Prix, where the top two finishers advance to the Candidates' Tournament, the women are playing for first place only. The top finisher in the series goes on to play a 10-game match for the Women's World Championship.

Koneru's lead is tenuous since the number-two woman, GM Ju Wenjun, has bagged a first- and a third-place finish and has played only two events thus far. At the end of this report you'll find a breakdown of all the women still in the chase and their individual scenarios.

From left to right, third-place Ju Wenjun; first-place Harika Dronavalli and her gold trophy; and (technically) second-place Humpy Koneru.

The event in Chengdu began on July 1 and concluded today with some last-round drama. After losing her head-to-head matchup with Dronavalli in round seven, Koneru caught her in the final with a win. In fact, the two got to the winning score of 7.0/11 in much different ways. Dronavalli went undefeated with three wins and eight draws while an undulating Koneru bagged five wins (including three in a row early on) and two losses.

Dronavalli admitted that she reduced her aggression in the tournament's final days to protect her margin.

Video courtesy Goran Urosevic of FIDE.

Dronavalli stormed out front with two wins in the first two days; then she cooled off by drawing eight of her final nine games. She was only interrupted by that win against Koneru.

Backing up to the beginning, in round one, Dronavalli survived an opponent that was intent only on checkmating.

Starting the next day, Koneru reeled off three straight victories. Her "turkey" meant she briefly took the sole overall lead after round four. Here's the final game of that mini-streak, where Black's rook on the kingside could never find harmony with the rest of her pieces. It often takes two passed-pawns to win opposite-colored-bishop endings, but not today!

We should also mention this fun attack by GM Antoaneta Stefanova, who finished in a tie for third with GM Wenjun Ju and GM Anna Muzychuk. In round three, all of White's pieces were centralized. The problem? The three clustered minor pieces were all under attack at the same time!

Even in photography, Dronavalli still aims for the center.

The two Indian GMs drew rounds five and six prior to their big clash in round seven. White was a smidgen better for most of the game, and the advantage became decisive when Black went for immediate queenside liquidation with 34...a5? Instead, sitting tight and allowing the rook and five pawns versus rook and four pawns ending might have offered better resistance.

Dronavalli called it the best game of the event.

Coming down the stretch, Ju's chances for another first-place finish took a severe hit when she dropped a game as White to GM Zhao Xue in round nine. In her only other Grand Prix event, Ju took clear first in Tehran.

The field for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.

Also in that round, Koneru lost another game (to Anna Muzychuk), seemingly knocking her out of contention. But not so! The next day she took revenge on the other Ukrainian sister (They share both a last name and a rating!) by beating former World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk with the Pirc Defense.

The gap was still a half point, but Koneru closed that today with a win when she needed it. Thus, she tied Dronavalli, who finished out with her fourth-straight draw.

Not only did the two Indian ladies split the Grand Prix points (145), they also each take home €9,125. Koneru also reclaimed the spot as women's world number two as Ju slipped back to third. GM Hou Yifan, the top female, dropped out of the Grand Prix after winning the first leg in Monte Carlo last year. She has also said she will not play the next knockout world championship.

Ju Wenjun is not in first in the Grand Prix, but due to the math, she may well be the favorite to compete for the next women's world championship.

The final Grand Prix event will be October 12-27, 2016 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Ju will be the top seed, but she will not be the only one who can catch Koneru. Here are the standings followed by a breakdown of the women remaining in contention for first and what they need to do in Russia.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 Standings (Top 15)

• Ju Wenjun trails by 81.66 points. She needs to finish in fourth place or higher. A two-way tie for fourth will also be good enough.
• Valentina Gunina trails by 130 points. She needs either clear first place or a two- or three-way tie for first. She only ties Koneru by finishing in sole second place.
• Alexandra Kosteniuk trails by 140 points. She needs either a clear first place win or a two-way tie for first.
• Harika Dronavalli trails by 145 points. She needs clear first place. She only ties Koneru by finishing in a two-way tie for first.
• Everyone else is eliminated since they are more than 160 points behind (the value of sole first place).

The winner of the overall series also takes the top cash prize of €25,000.

No!! Don't do it. Stefanova and the Muzychuk sisters contemplate taking up Chinese Chess.

That's more like it. Stefanova learns to play the Guzheng (Chinese Zither).

FIDE Women's Grand Prix Chengdu  | Final Standings