Humpy gets a share of second place

CHENNAI: Koneru Humpy of India signed off in style with an exciting win over Ju Wenjun of China in the 11th and last round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament at Jermuk on Saturday.

Humpy finished with 6.5 points and got a share of the second place in a three-way tie as Chinese trio Wenjun, Hou Yifan and Lufei Ruan lost their last-round games in a dramatic finish.

Yifan could still hold on to her first place as she had reached seven points in the penultimate round itself while Humpy, Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine and Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia won their last games and got into a tie for the second place.

Lahno and Nadezhda had better tiebreak scores but Humpy’s recovery from two losses in the second half earned her a better finish.

Humpy played a remarkable game with black against Ju Wenjun, who had led the field till the homestretch. In a Queens Gambit Declined game, Humpy went for broke and unleashed an allout attack on the kingside, breaking open the knight file with the rooks and queen.

White landed in a mess after 35 moves. Wenjun, who had led the field until the homestretch, slipped to fifth place after the result.

Yifan’s loss to Kateryna Lahno evened out the field in the end. In an opposite-coloured bishop ending Lahno won two pawns and promoted her queenside-pawn after 48 moves. Nadezhda defeated Lufei Ruan in 58 moves of Ruy Lopez after winning a piece.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar