Elina Danielian Leads Kazan Grand Prix
After four rounds of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Kazan, the Armenian Elina Danielian leads the field with a score of 3 points.
The surprise of the tournament so far has been the poor start by Hou Yifan. The women's world champion lost her second round game to the lowest ranked competitor, Turkey's Betul Yildiz, when she became unnecessarily embroiled in tactical melee, and lost again in round four to Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania.
The Kazan Women's Grand Prix runs from 10-22 June and is the fourth in a series of six tournaments to determine the challenger for the 2013 Women's World Championship. The format of each event is a 12-player single round-robin.
The Kazan standings after 4 rounds:
| # | Name | Nat | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Elina Danielian | ARM | 2484 | 3.0 |
| 2 | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2598 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Humpy Koneru | IND | 2589 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Nadezhda Kosintseva | RUS | 2528 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Viktorija Cmilyte | LTU | 2508 | 2.5 |
| 6 | Antoaneta Stefanova | BUL | 2518 | 2.0 |
| 7 | Keteryana Lahno | UKR | 2546 | 2.0 |
| 8 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | RUS | 2457 | 2.0 |
| 9 | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2623 | 1.5 |
| 10 | Alisa Galliamova | RUS | 2484 | 1.5 |
| 11 | Tatiana Kosintseva | RUS | 2532 | 1.0 |
| 12 | Betul Cemre Yildiz | TUR | 2333 | 1.0 |
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FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov starts the game between Humpy Koneru and Hou Yifan in round 1
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Newly crowned women's world rapid champion Antoaneta Stefanova won her first round game
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But Stefanova lost to Anna Muzychuk (pictured) in the second round
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Betul Yildiz defeated Hou Yifan in a wild game for the shock result of the round
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Viktorija Cmilyte was among the winners in round 3
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Elina Danielian won her second game in a row in round 4 to take the lead
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Hou Yifan recorded her second loss with white in the fourth round against Viktorija Cmilyte
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The winner of each of the six Grand Prix tournaments in the series will win €6,500 out of a prize fund of €40,000, and the overall winner will win a further €15,000.
The standings after the first three tournaments can be found in our previous news report. The regulations for the 2011/12 Grand Prix can be found here.
Round-by-round reports, results and games can be found at the official website together with live video coverage and commentary.
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Photos by Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich for the official website.
