Dzagnidze leads GP in Jermuk
After four rounds Nana Dzagnidze leads the 4th FIDE Women Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia. The Georgian grandmaster is on 3.5/4. The winner of the previous GP, Tatiana Kosintseva from Russia, is trailing by half a point.Hou Yifan from China is currently leading the overall Women GP standings with 250 points, followed by Zhao Xue (240), Humpy Koneru (230) and Nana Dzagnidze (230). The first Women GP was held in March 2009 in Istanbul and was won by Humpy Koneru. Xu Yuhua finished first at the second, in September-October 2009 in Nanjing. In March of this year Tatiana Kosintseva was the convincing winner.FIDE Women Grand Prix: Standings after 3 tournaments
(Thanks to ebutaljib)
The Women Grand Prix series consists of six tournaments. The winner of each tournament wins 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros and the overall winner of the series will win a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. The final two GPs will be held in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia (29 July-12 August 2010) and Santiago, Chile (27 October-9 November 2010).According to FIDE regulations, the winner of the Grand Prix series at the end of 2010 will play the Women World Champion in the third quarter of 2011 in a ten game match for the Women’s World Championship title.The 4th FIDE Women Grand Prix tournament takes place June 23 - July 6 in Jermuk, Armenia, where last year the 5th Men's GP was also held. Hou Yifan (CHN, 2589), Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL, 2560), Pia Cramling (SWE, 2536), Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS, 2534), Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO, 2514), Xu Yuhua (CHN, 2484), Nana Dzagnidze (GEO, 2478), Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM, 2477), Elina Danielian (ARM, 2473), Shen Yang (CHN, 2452), Baira Kovanova (RUS, 2366) and Martha Fierro (ECU, 2363) play.Nana Dzagnidze started strongly in Jermuk. She beat Antoaneta Stefanova and Elina Danielian, then drew with Pia Cramling and then beat Baira Kovanova. Tatiana Kosintseva, who won the last Grand Prix in Nalchik, drew twice and won twice.
Games rounds 1-4
Game viewer by ChessTempo
Location is the beautiful Jermuk, Armenia...
...with fairy-tale bridges...
...and faces, this is a sandstone 'Mother Sose' (Sose Vardanian, 1865–1952), an Armenian female hajduk (freedom fighter), the wife of famous hajduk leader Serob Aghpur. She was surnamed "mayrig" (mother) by Serob's hajduks for her bravery and maternal concern for Armenian youth.
The venue, with demo boards in front
The opening ceremony, last Wednesday...
...with many officials present, including FIDE Commercial Director Geoffrey Borg, Technical Adviser Nona Gapridashvili, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Serge Sarkissian (President of Armenia and the Armenian Chess Federation) and organizer, GM Smbat Lputian
Grand Prix leader Hou Yifan (China) drawing her lot...
...and former World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze doing the same
Organizer GM Smbat Lputian keeping an eye on everything
The stunning playing hall which you might recall from last year's Men's GP
Photos © FIDE, more here
