Round 9 of the FIDE Women Grand Prix in Ankara saw the key game of the whole Grand Prix Series between Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzyhcuk, the two players with the best chances for the overall second place behind Hou Yifan.
Koneru, leader of the tournament before today’s round, chose a bit passive strategy and was defeated by Muzychuk. With this victory the Slovenian player leaped ahead and took the pole position with two rounds to go.
Former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova scored her first full point in the tournament by winning against Kubra Ozturk who sacrificed a pawn in the middle game but didn’t get enough compensation later on.
Tatiana Kosinsteva committed the same mistake three times until Betul Yildiz found the winning move and converted the advantage in her favor.
Zhao Xue was persistent in finding winning chances against Monika Socko and eventually succeeded to pull the victory. Two more games would be decisive today had Viktorija Cmilyte and Ju Wenjun used their chances to achieve more than draws.
Replay the games with computer analysis
Round 9 results:
Cmilyte Viktorija – Munguntuul Batkhuyag ½-½
Koneru Humpy – Muzychuk Anna 0-1
Ruan Lufei – Ju Wenjun ½-½
Stefanova Antoaneta – Ozturk Kubra 1-0
Yildiz Betul Cemre – Kosintseva Tatiana 1-0
Zhao Xue – Socko Monika 1-0
The Women Grand Prix is taking place from 15th to 29th September in Ankara, Turkey.
Photos by Anastasya Karlovich
Visit the official website for the instructive game commentary by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko
Humpy pushed too hard.