Hou Yifan Seals Grand Prix Victory
Women's world champion Hou Yifan has sealed victory in the Jermuk Grand Prix with a score of 7/11 despite suffering her only loss in the final round to Kateryna Lahno.
The result also ensures that with one tournament remaining, Hou cannot be caught in the overall 2011-12 Grand Prix standings. The race for second place is still important, since that player will challenge for Hou's world title in 2013.
The early leader Ju Wenjun finished in fifth place after losing in the last two rounds.
The winner Hou Yifan with 2nd and 3rd placed Nadezhda Kosintseva (left) and Kateryna Lahno (right)
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The final standings in the Jermuk Grand Prix:
| # | Name | Elo | Nat | Pts |
| 1 | Hou Yifan | 2617 | CHN | 7 |
| 2 | Kosintseva Nadezhda | 2516 | RUS | 6½ |
| 3 | Lahno Kateryna | 2537 | UKR | 6½ |
| 4 | Koneru Humpy | 2598 | IND | 6½ |
| 5 | Ju Wenjun | 2518 | CHN | 6 |
| 6 | Ruan Lufei | 2483 | CHN | 6 |
| 7 | Zhao Xue | 2556 | CHN | 5½ |
| 8 | Danielian Elina | 2480 | ARM | 5 |
| 9 | Mkrtchian Lilit | 2450 | ARM | 5 |
| 10 | Kovalevskaya Ekaterina | 2417 | RUS | 4½ |
| 11 | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 2447 | MGL | 4 |
| 12 | Khurtsidze Nino | 2456 | GEO | 3½ |
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The 2011/12 Grand Prix winner Hou Yifan
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Ju Wenjun lost in the last two rounds to finish 5th
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Hou Yifan lost just one game, in the final round
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The overall Grand Prix standings with one tournament remaining:
| Player | Rostov | Shenzhen | Nalchik | Kazan | Jermuk | Best 3 |
| Hou Yifan | 160 | 160 | — | 100 | 160 | 480 |
| Anna Muzychuk | 100 | 130 | — | 145 | — | 375 |
| Kateryna Lahno | 130 | — | 80 | 50 | 110 | 320 |
| Koneru Humpy | 65 | — | — | 145 | 110 | 320 |
| Ju Wenjun | — | 100 | 130 | — | 75 | 305 |
| Zhao Xue | — | 75 | 160 | — | 60 | 295 |
| Viktorija Cmilyte | — | 35 | 100 | 100 | — | 235 |
| Nadezhda Kosintseva | 80 | — | 55 | 35 | 110 | 245 |
| Tatiana Kosintseva | 100 | — | 55 | 60 | — | 215 |
| Ruan Lufei | 30 | 75 | — | — | 75 | 180 |
| Elina Danielian | 45 | 50 | — | 75 | 45 | 170 |
| Ekaterina Kovalevskaya | 20 | 20 | 100 | — | 30 | 150 |
| Antoaneta Stefanova | 45 | — | 55 | 35 | — | 135 |
| Alisa Galliamova | 65 | — | 30 | 20 | — | 115 |
| Tan Zhongyi | — | 100 | — | — | — | 100 |
| Munguntuul Batkhuyag | — | 60 | 20 | — | 20 | 100 |
| Alexandra Kosteniuk | 10 | — | 10 | 75 | — | 95 |
| Zhu Chen | — | 35 | 55 | — | — | 90 |
| Lilit Mkrtchian | — | — | — | — | 45 | 45 |
| Betul Cemre Yildiz | — | 10 | — | 10 | — | 20 |
| Nino Khurtsidze | — | — | — | — | 10 | 10 |
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Hou Yifan won the first 2 Grand Prix events in Rostov and Shenzhen, while Zhao Xue took achieved a crushing victory in the third Grand Prix in Nalchik (Hou Yifan did not compete there). The fourth Grand Prix in Kazan had joint winners - Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk.
Hou Yifan earns €6,500 for her victory in Jermuk and a further €15,000 for taking 1st place in the overall Grand Prix standings.
The full regulations for the 2011/12 Grand Prix can be found here. More information and lots of great pictures are available at the official website.
Overall standings via wikipedia.
