This article is a summary please check out 2011 Women’s Chess Grand Prix – Xue Dominates with 2800+ Performance for the full article with an interactive chessboard and more information
The 3rd Women’s Grand Prix of the 2011 season was dominated from start to finish by Chinese female chess star Zhao Xue. Xue’s results have suffered in recent times, and many had written her off as just another falling star. One of her close competitors at this event, Nadezhda Kosintseva, knows just how good Zhao Xue is really playing these days – declaring “A lot of people have written her off. Nothing to say – she is a fighter!” Going into the last round of the 3rd Women’s Grand Prix in Nalchik, Zhao Xue boasted one of the most incredible performance ratings ever achieved by a female chess player – over 3000 FIDE. Even after her last-round loss to fellow Chinese superstar Ju Wenjun, Xue finished the tournament with a performance rating of well over 2800 FIDE.
In the following video, I take an in-depth look at Xue’s monsterous round 8 victory over the aforementioned Russian female chess star, Nadezhda Kosintseva. At this point in the tournament, Xue had achieved a significant lead over the field with an incredible score of 6.5/7, however Ju Wenjun and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya were close on her heels. Xue opened with d4, and Kosintseva played a fashionable line of the Queen’s Indian Defense with 4. …Ba6. Xue responded with 5. Qa4, and went on to quickly achieve pressure on the d-file by doubling her rooks with 12. Rd2 and 13. Rad1 – making black’s subsequent development of her queenside knight an uncomfortable affair. This d-file pressure provoked Kosintseva into playing 14. …e5 – creating a static weakness on the d5 square which played a critical role in the middlegame. Xue played very precisely and continued building her pressure against Kosintseva’s center – then switched at the perfect moment to a very dangerous kingside attack with 20. Bxh6! and 21. Rxd4! This exchange sacrifice enabled Xue to maintain constant, long-term pressure against Kosintseva’s kingside – which white was able to accurately convert to a full point in 35 moves.
This article is a summary please check out 2011 Women’s Chess Grand Prix – Xue Dominates with 2800+ Performance for the full article with an interactive chessboard and more information
Follow William for fresh daily updates: Follow @OnlineChessLessWilliam Stewart is a National Master. He specializes in Online Chess Coaching and maintains a daily updated Chess Blog
She rocks.