Koneru Humpy triumphs in Kazan
TNN | Jun 22, 2012, 09.27PM IST

CHENNAI: Koneru Humpy got a well-deserved break on Friday when she won the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament at Kazan (Russia) on tiebreak against Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia.

Humpy and Muzychuk won their eleventh-round games against Russians Alisa Galliamova and Nadezhda Kosintseva respectively to end with 7.5 points each. Of the three tie breaks, two were similar and Humpy edged the Slovenian for title with a narrow margin (36.75 to 36.5) in the third.

Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania, who went into the last round as a joint leader, drew her last round game with Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria to drop to second place. Women’s World champion Hou Yifan of China, who had a poor start to her campaign, losing two of her first three games, bounced back to finish joint second with seven points.

Elina Danielian of Armenia, who looked well set to win the event, slipped in the last three rounds to finish a disappointing fifth. In fact, Danielian’s hopes were dashed in the ninth round when she lost her first game in the tournament to former women’s World champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. The former World champion found a nice sacrifice to open the central files and create a decisive attack on her opponent’s king.

Humpy, who conceded six draws in the first seven rounds, Katerina Lahno of Ukraine to reach the top at the right time.

Final placings: 1-2 Koneru Humpy (India), Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia) 7.5 pts, 3-4 Hou Yifan (China), Viktorija Cmilyte (Lithuania) 7 each, 5-6 Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), Elina Danielian (Armenia) 6 each, 7. Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia) 5.5, 8.Kateryna Lahno (Ukraine) 5, 9-10: Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) and Nadezhda Kosintseva (Russia) 4.5 each, 11. Alisa Galliamova (Russia) 3, 12. Betul Cemre ( Turkey) 2.5

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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