WWCh G2: Humpy Koneru draws comfortably

PeterDoggers

Updated: Nov 17, 2011, 10:36 AM | 0 | Chess Event Coverage

Humpy Koneru drew the second game in her World Championship match against Hou Yifan most comfortably. If anyone was better in the game it was the Indian grandmaster. The match is played over 10 classical games and if necessary there will be a rapid (and possible blitz) tie-break. The event takes place in Tirana, Albania.

The second game under way in Tirana | All photos © FIDE by Anastasiya Karlovich

Event	Women's World Championship \| PGN via TWIC
Dates	November 13th-30th, 2011
Location	Tirana, Albania
System	10-game match, tie-break if necessary
Players	Reigning World Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Challenger Humpy Koneru (India)
Rate of play	90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one

In the second game of the match for the women's chess crown Hou Yifan had the white pieces, but could not get anything from the opening.

Humpy Koneru chose the Petroff Defence comfortably equalized using an early Qd8-e8-a4 manoeuvre after White had castled queenside.

The opening came as a surprise to the World Champion. At the press-conference the Chinese confessed that she didn't expect it and hadn't prepared against it.

The game entered the endgame stage quite early where Black stood slightly more active on the queenside. However, this was not enough for a real advantage. After the time control was passed, the players agreed to a draw.

After two games the score is equal (1-1). On Wednesday, November 16th the players enjoy their first rest day. The organizers prepared an excursion to the Albanian mountains.

Game 2

[Event "WCh w"]
[Site "Tirana ALB"]
[Date "2011.11.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hou Yifan"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2011.11.14"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O
8. Qd2 Qe8 $5 $146 {A well-known manoeuvre but new in this position.} (8... Nd7
9. O-O-O Ne5 10. h4 c6 11. c4 Be6 12. Ng5 Bf5 13. f3 f6 14. Nh3 Be6 15. b3 a6
16. Nf4 Bf7 17. Qf2 b5 {Karjakin,S (2776)-Gelfand,B (2733)/Monte Carlo 2011})
9. O-O-O Qa4 10. Kb1 Nc6 11. h4 Be6 12. b3 Qa5 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. cxd4 Qxd2 15.
Rxd2 d5 {Hou Yifan hasn't been been able to find a way to an advantage against
Black's idea.} 16. h5 h6 17. Bd3 a5 18. a4 Bb4 19. Rdd1 Bc3 20. Rh4 c6 21. Bc1
Bd7 22. Bb2 Bb4 23. Ka2 Rfe8 24. Rhh1 b5 {Black now gets some initiative on
the queenside but she needs a mistake from her opponent to win the game.} 25.
c3 Bf8 26. axb5 cxb5 27. Rde1 Bd6 28. Ba3 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 b4 30. Bb2 a4 31. bxa4
Bxa4 32. Kb1 bxc3 33. Bxc3 Rb8+ 34. Ka2 Ra8 35. Kb2 Kf8 36. Ra1 Rb8+ 37. Kc1
Bf4+ 38. Bd2 Rc8+ 39. Kb2 Rb8+ 40. Kc1 Rc8+ 41. Kb2 Rb8+ 42. Kc1 Rc8+ 1/2-1/2

Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

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WWCh G2: Humpy Koneru draws comfortably

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