IM Nadezhda Kosintseva stunned GM Zhu Chen with the Black pieces today. In the mean time, IM Lahno, with the Black defeated IM Matveeva to surge to a full point lead with just one round to go.
GM Zhu Chen – IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda 0-1
IM Mkrtchian, Lilit – IM Kosintseva, Tatiana 1-0
GM Stefanova, Antoaneta – WFM Hou Yifan 1-0
IM Cmilyte, Viktorija – GM Chiburdanidze, Maia 0-1
IM Matveeva, Svetlana – IM Lahno, Kateryna 0-1
Tomorrow, Zhu Chen will face Chiburdanidze while Lahno will face Stefanova. This will be an exciting finish.
Here are the current standings after 8 rounds:
1. Lahno, Kateryna m UKR 2449 6.5
2. Zhu Chen g QAT 2476 5.5
3. Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2459 5.0
4-6. Kosintseva, Nadezhda m RUS 2472, Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2504, 6. Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2520 4.5
7. Cmilyte, Viktorija m LTU 2476 3.5
8. Hou Yifan wf CHN 2488 2.5
9. Matveeva, Svetlana m RUS 2454 2.0
10. Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2479 1.5
Lahno is very talented but she’s not consistent. She can win a big event like this and then go 1 / 9 at the next.
She is having a great tournament. Susan, would it be feasable for you to have a similar tournament here in USA? I would like to see our top players given an opportunity since they did so well in Olympics.