Kazan Chess Grand Prix: Humpy Beats Lahno, Goes into Joint Lead

Kazan Chess Grand Prix Round 9 saw a super game by India's Koneru Humpy to beat Kateryna Lahno and go into joint lead on Wednesday. 

Kateryna Lahno-Koneru Humpy 0-1

The other very attacking game of the day was played by 12th women's world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk to bring down leader Elina Danielian. This is Danielian's first loss of the tournament. Kosteniuk played for the initiative right from the start and found a nice sacrifice to open central files. Danielian's defeat allowed Anna Muzychuk, who drew with Viktorija Chmilyte, and Koneru Humpy, who beat Lahno, to take joint lead with Danielian.

 Alexandra Kosteniuk-Elina Danielian 1-0

Two more rounds have to be played. Meanwhile, women's world chess champion Hou Yifan managed to win an almost-drawn game against Alisa Galliamova. After about five hours of play, former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova managed to develop winning chances in a bishop endgame against Betul Yildiz, but could only draw. The Kosintseva sisters, as expected, drew their game in 14 moves. (Photos by Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich/FIDE.)


Round 9 Results
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2508 ½-½ GM Anna Muzychuk 2598 12
GM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2528 ½-½ GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2532
GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2518 ½-½ WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz 2333
GM Keteryna Lahno 2546 0-1 GM Humpy Koneru 2589
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2457 1-0 GM Elina Danielian 2484
IM Alisa Galliamova 2484 0-1 GM Hou Yifan 2623

Standings after Round 9

1-3. Koneru Humpy, Elina Danielian, Anna Muzychuk 6

4-5. Viktorija Cmilyte, Hou Yifan 5.5

6-8. Kateryna Lahno, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Alexandra Kosteniuk 4.5

9. Tatiana Kosintseva 4

10. Antoaneta Stefanova 3.5

11. Alisa Galliamova, Betul Cemre Yildiz 2

Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan, is hosting the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix, part of a series of elite events organised by FIDE and Global Chess. This tournament is running from June 9 to 23, 2012. The entire Grand Prix series includes six tournaments over two years in various countries around the world. The winner of each tournament takes home 6,500 euros. The total prize fund is 40,000 euros. The overall winner will get a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. 

Don't forget to watch the last two rounds of the Kazan Chess Grand Prix live at the official tournament website from India time 4.30 pm.

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Magnus Carlsen in his Blog on Winning 7th Tal Chess Memorial in Moscow

World's strongest chess player Magnus Carlsen of Norway has just won the 7th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial in Moscow with an exciting last-round win. Carlsen's blog is a sponsoring agreement between Arctic Securities and the Magnus Carlsen. Magnus became an International Grandmaster at the age of 13, the youngest at the time.

After Tal Memorial, Carlsen will get the super-strong rating of 2837! He is surpassed only by the legendary Garry Kasparov who reached a rating of 2851 in January, 2000.

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World Chess Blitz/Rapid Player's List Released; Ruslan Ponomariov on His Exclusion

Full list for Astana World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, 1-11 July 2012.

Qualifiers by rating for finals (6-10 July)
01. Magnus Carlsen 2835
02. Teimour Radjabov 2784
03. Sergey Karjakin 2779
04. Alexander Morozevich 2769
05. Vassily Ivanchuk 2764
06. Alexander Grischuk 2761
07. Veselin Topalov 2752
08. Peter Svidler 2741
09. Boris Gelfand 2727
10. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2726

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Asian Dragons Chess in Taipei from August 14

Asian Dragons Open Chess Tournament 2012 - the sixth edition - would be held in Taipei, Taiwan, from August 14-21. The Asian Dragons tournament used to be an invitational when it first began in Kaohsiung in 2007. It was also, at that time, the first international chess tournament organised by the Chinese Taipei Chess Association. The tournament was inspired by the idea of providing an opportunity for players with ratings below 2200 to improve and compete against players from around the world in a friendly and competitive environment.

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Kazan Chess Round 8 Game: Koneru Humpy-Antoaneta Stefanova 1-0

India's Koneru Humpy

India's most talented woman chess player and current world #3 Koneru Humpy beat reigning women's rapid chess champion and former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova in a nice game in Round 8. At the press conference, Humpy said, "I played this Panov variation for the first time in my life. I was not sure what I shall do after b5. If I take Nb5 black will play Rb8 and will have some counter play and compensation for the pawn. I think my opponent should have played 19…Nf6 instead of 19…Rd8 because after d6 and Nd5 I got a better position. It was clear there are some exact moves which lead to a win after 28. Qd3 h5 but I didn’t find anything better than 29.Rc3 and 30.Rc1. after 32.Rf8 it was lost for black."

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Kazan Chess Grand Prix Round 8: Armenia's Elina Danielian in Lead; India's Humpy a Point Away

Armenia's Elina Danielian is apparently set to win the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix currently on in Kazan. Four games were decisive in the eighth round on Monday. In the two chess games that were drawn, Betul Yildiz and Viktorija Cmilyte missed wins against sisters Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva. 

Armenia's Elina Danielian - Set to win Kazan?

Elina Danielian scored a cool win over second in the standings - Kateryna Lahno. Anna Muzychuk managed to get a good position against Alisa Galliamova and managed to win in the endgame even though Galliamova had equalized in the middlegame. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to Hou Yifan. Humpy Koneru played very well to defeat Antoaneta Stefanova.

India's Koneru Humpy (right) on her way to beating former women's world chess champion and current women's world rapid chess champion.

After eight rounds at the Kazan Chess Grand Prix, Elina Danielian leads with 6 points. Anna Muzychuk is in second place with 5.5 points. Viktorija Cmilyte and Humpy Koneru share the third spot with 5 points. Hou Yifan and Kateryna Lahno are in shared fifth place with 4.5 points.

Kateryna Lahno watching the
Hou Yifan-Alexandra Kosteniuk match

Photos by Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich with kind permission of FIDE from the official website. You can watch the Kazan Women's Chess Grand Prix live at the official website from India time 4.30 pm. Tuesday is a rest day with three more rounds to be played at the Kazan Chess Grand Prix.

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