WIM Yildiz (2214) – IM Fierro (2403) [B36]
Women’s Grand Prix (4), 10.03.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.Bg5 0–0 10.Qd2 a5 11.Rc1 a4 12.f3 Qa5 13.0–0 Be6 14.Nd5 Qxd2 15.Bxd2 Bxd5 16.cxd5 Nd7 17.Bc3 Rfc8 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Kf2 Nc5 20.Ke3 f5 21.Rc3 Kf6 22.Rfc1 fxe4 23.fxe4 Ke5 24.b4 axb3 25.axb3 Ra3 26.Bd1 Rca8 27.Bc2 b5 28.Rb1 Rf8 29.Ke2 Rf4 30.g3 Rf8 31.h4 h6 32.Re3 Ra2 33.Rc1 Na6 34.Rf3 Rc8 35.Kd1 Nc5 36.Rf7 Rc7 37.h5 gxh5 38.Rf5+ Kd4 39.Rxh5 Rc8 40.Rf5 Rg8 41.b4 Nd3 42.Bxd3 Kxd3 43.Rf3+ Kxe4 44.Rcc3 Kxd5 45.Rcd3+ Ke6 46.Rde3+ Kd7 47.Rf7 Re8 48.Rh7 Rb2 49.Re4 Rg2 50.g4 d5 51.Rd4 Ra8 Black wins 0–1
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Round 4 results:
| SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
| 12 | GM | KONERU Humpy | 2621 | ½ – ½ | WGM | SHEN Yang | 2448 | 8 |
| 9 | GM | CHIBURDANIDZE Maia | 2516 | 0 – 1 | IM | DANIELIAN Elina | 2496 | 7 |
| 10 | WGM | MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab | 2362 | 0 – 1 | GM | SEBAG Marie | 2529 | 6 |
| 11 | GM | STEFANOVA Antoaneta | 2557 | ½ – ½ | GM | ZHAO Xue | 2508 | 5 |
| 1 | GM | CRAMLING Pia | 2548 | 0 – 1 | GM | HOU Yifan | 2571 | 4 |
| 2 | WIM | YILDIZ Betul Cemre | 2214 | 0 – 1 | IM | FIERRO Baquero Martha L. | 2403 | 3 |
Standings after 4 rounds:
| Rank | SNo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | Res. | SB. | Koya | |
| 1 | 4 | GM | HOU Yifan | 2571 | CHN | 3½ | 0 | 3,75 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | IM | FIERRO Baquero Martha L. | 2403 | ECU | 3½ | 0 | 2,50 | ½ |
| 3 | 12 | GM | KONERU Humpy | 2621 | IND | 3 | 0 | 4,50 | 1 |
| 4 | 5 | GM | ZHAO Xue | 2508 | CHN | 3 | 0 | 3,25 | ½ |
| 5 | 7 | IM | DANIELIAN Elina | 2496 | ARM | 2½ | 0 | 4,25 | 1 |
| 6 | 11 | GM | STEFANOVA Antoaneta | 2557 | BUL | 2 | 0 | 3,75 | 1 |
| 7 | 6 | GM | SEBAG Marie | 2529 | FRA | 2 | 0 | 1,50 | 0 |
| 8 | 9 | GM | CHIBURDANIDZE Maia | 2516 | GEO | 1½ | 0 | 4,25 | 1½ |
| 9 | 8 | WGM | SHEN Yang | 2448 | CHN | 1½ | 0 | 3,75 | 1½ |
| 10 | 1 | GM | CRAMLING Pia | 2548 | SWE | 1 | 0 | 0,50 | 0 |
| 11 | 2 | WIM | YILDIZ Betul Cemre | 2214 | TUR | ½ | 0 | 1,50 | ½ |
| 12 | 10 | WGM | MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab | 2362 | AZE | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | 0 |
Official website: http://istanbul2009.fide.com/
I had a friend that was a 1600 player and beat Martha in a scholastic tournament around ’92 or so. I told him to save that shoresheet, because this girl’s gonna be good someday!
New York Times raises another $225M in office sale
New York Times raises another $225M by selling headquarters, giving publisher bigger cushion
Monday March 9, 2009, 4:50 pm EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. has sold most of its home office for $225 million, padding the newspaper publisher’s financial cushion amid a sharp drop in revenue that has forced management to scrounge for more money.
The deal announced Monday covers 21 of the building’s 52 floors. That space, about 750,000 square feet (69,676 sq. meters), became the Times’ headquarters when the midtown Manhattan offices opened in 2007.
Under the terms of the sale to investment firm W.P. Carey & Co., the New York Times Co. will rent back the offices at a cost of $24 million this year, with subsequent increases spread through the 15-year lease. The company will have an option to buy back its interest in the space for $250 million in 10 years.
The office sale is the latest financial sacrifice that the Times company has made to ensure it has enough money to repay its debts. It also suspended its shareholder dividend to save about $133 million this year and secured a $250 million infusion from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim by agreeing to pay an abnormally high interest rate of 14 percent in addition to giving him potentially valuable stock warrants.
Although management got the cash it wanted from the office sale, it probably was a difficult pill to swallow, said bond analyst Mike Simonton of Fitch Ratings.
“Forcing a real estate deal though at this inopportune time demonstrates management’s resolve to get its balance sheet in order,” Simonton said. “This improves their ability to control their own destiny.”
The company will still own seven floors of the Manhattan building. Six of those floors already had been leased to another tenant.
Simonton and Gimme Credit analyst Dave Novosel believe the company should be able to repay about $300 million in debts coming due through 2010. The risk of default would have been much higher if the company hadn’t raised more cash. Its total debt stood at $1.1 billion at the end of 2008.
Investors, though, remained skittish as the New York Times Co.’s shares fell 17 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $3.90. The company’s stock has plunged by nearly 80 percent since 2007.
W.P. Carey shares rose 86 cents, 4.8 percent, to close at $18.88.
Like all newspaper publishers, the New York Times Co. has been staggered by an accelerating drop in ad revenue that began several years ago as more marketers shifted their spending from the print medium to the Internet, where the costs are lower and the audience is still growing as more readers get their news for free online. The 15-month-old recession has exacerbated the newspaper industry’s misery.
The Times company and other publishers have been attracting more online readers as they pour more resources into their Web sites, but they aren’t bringing in nearly enough revenue from the Internet to offset the erosion in their print product. Nearly $268 million in advertising revenue evaporated from the Times company last year, a 13 percent drop from 2007.
Still, the Times company remains in better shape than many of its rivals.
Several publishers, most notably Tribune Co., have sought bankruptcy protection in an attempt to restructure their debts. Others, like McClatchy Co., have laid off thousands of employees and slashed the wages of the workers still on the payroll. In the worst scenarios, some publishers are preparing to cease publication, following in the footsteps of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
“By raising more money like it has, The New York Times is able to say, `We are not in dire straits at this point,'” Novosel said.
To gain even more wiggle room, the Times company is still hoping to sell its 17.8 percent stake in a partnership that owns the Boston Red Sox. If that effort succeeds, the Times company could pocket another $150 million or so. But both Novosel and Simonton doubt a buyer will emerge soon because the recession is threatening to depress baseball’s revenue, too.
If it needs even more cash, the Times company also could try to sell some of its other newspapers, which include The Boston Globe and 16 other daily publications. But newspaper buyers are scarce now.
Many people have been reported to be throwing “New York Times is going under” parties!
Many blame Dylan L. Mclame for the demise of this once great newspaper now only good for toilet paper.
I am so glad for Martha doing so well and especially since she was a last minute replacement. Viva Sur America!!!!
I am so glad for Martha doing so well and especially since she was a last minute replacement. Viva Sur America!!!!
Who did she replace?
It seems like Fiero got lucky here After 14 … Qxd2 Why not 15 Nxe7+ winning a pawn before capturing back the Queen.
How can a master missed something so elementary or am I missing something?
Hou Yi-fan is now in the lead, as expected.
“Who did she replace?”
She replaced Zhu Chen.
She replaced Zhu Chen.
Thanks.