Last round report
WGM Anna Sharevich comments on the last round games
Kosintseva Tatiana – Kosintseva Nadezhda
In this duel we know everything from the very beginning: girls never play against each other, even when one of them needs to win the game. “There was a situation in the Russian Superfinal when in the case of a victory one of us could become a champion and the other get the bronze medal. But there wasn’t any real fight”, said Tanya.
The girls played the variation that usually happens in their games. After the game both sisters looked happy and relaxed: the hard tournament finally finished… But it seemed only from the first sight. “Some kind of a crisis happened, which is still should be overcome”, said Nadya.”But we promise to do our best to show our real strength in future.”
Ju Wenjun – Zhao Xue
The Chinese “show” in Nalchik turned out to be very “bloody”. This time for “H.M” Zhao Xue who lost her only game in the last round. But nevertheless it’s hard to blame her because there was a moment in the middle game when she denied the offer of Ju to repeat the position.
“I’m really very glad to take the second place”, Wenjun shared the thoughts. “And I should admit that I won the game not only because I played well, but also because of Zhao’s mistakes.”
Well, we have to congratulate Ju Wenjun and wish her success on the forthcoming Chinese league.
Kosteniuk Alexandra – Lahno Kateryna
The Ukrainian grandmaster won the game confidently. It’s really a pity that for Sasha this tournament became also as unsuccessful as the previous stage in Rostov. And it doesn’t seem that the former world champion was playing without motivation. Maybe something has broken in her “winning machine”… Maybe we don’t know something. But it’s clear that Alexandra will overcome this crisis and show us her real strength.
“Sasha played quite aggressive in the opening pushing the pawns a4 and g4 without castling what wasn’t the best decision I guess”, explained Katya. “And I managed to use this.”
Cmilyte Viktorija – Zhu Chen
The game between the European champion and the former world champion ended in a draw. The battle turned to be very solid and lasted for more than 50 moves, but nevertheless the winner wasn’t defined. The variation of Slav defence arose, on the move 15 they changed the queens and moved to the ending. Maybe Zhu Chen had a chance to intercept the initiative. But to be honest white didn’t make any obvious mistakes.
Probably Viktorija can be quite satisfied with the result of this Grand Prix stage which happened to be more successful for her than the previous one. Zhu Chen also proved her very high level finishing the tournament with the 50% result.
Galliamova Alisa – Munguntuul Batkhuyag
Unfortunately not in every grand Prix game the girls are fighting for the top places. This time Alisa tried to move from the last place (what actually is not the best motivation for such titled chess player as Galliamova) and did that. Nevertheless Alisa was the real professional in this game. She chose the solid Catalon variation and achieved the advantage. After Tuul’s mistake white got 2 pieces for the rook. But we cannot but admit that the position didn’t look very easy to be won. The girls had to pass through a time trouble. After that Alisa’s purposefulness helped her to win the game.
We hope that this victory sweetened Alisa’s impressions of the competition. What concerns Tuul – she still has to prove her high level.
Stefanova Antoaneta – Kovalevskaya Ekaterina
We cannot but admit that Katya Kovalevskaya was in a good shape on this tournament. Especially if we compare it to the other stages of Grand Prix. And if she won this game she could be among first three winners. But it’s not so easy to win against Antoaneta, especially with black. In the Zukertort variation the Bulgarian got a perspective position. After Katya’s mistake 28… Re7 Stefanova could intercept the initiative and put the problems for her opponent. But the vice-world champion showed the persistence and made a draw.
No doubts: both chess players can show great results and we’ll see it in future.
Official website: http://nalchik2011.fide.com
Chinese are best.