The 5th tournament of the FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix 2013-2014 is taking place from 18th June to 2nd July in Lopota, Georgia.
Twelve players compete in the round robin tournament. The event is organized by the Georgian Ministry of Sport and Youth, FIDE and Georgian Chess Federation, and sponsored by SOCAR.
After round 3 Ju Wenjun joins Hou Yifan in the lead, Dzagnidze and Muzychuk are catching up with the Indian players, while Khotenashvili and Kosteniuk hope for better in the upcoming rounds.
The central and, perhaps, the most awaited game, Hou Yifan – Koneru Humpy, ended in a draw after the Chinese missed a great winning chance at the critical moment.
Hou Yifan – Koneru Humpy
The first two draws from the previous days gave the Georgian player, Nana Dzagnidze, the necessary confidence to break the ice and she scored her first victory, reaching a big tie for the third place.
For her compatriot though, Bella Khotenashvili, the start of the tournament is confronted with more obstacles. Although she defended until the last drop of energy, after yesterday’s defeat against Hou Yifan, Bella lost to another Chinese player, Ju Wenjun, who now joins her colleague in the lead.
As for Antoaneta Stefanova, she proved, or at least it looked very convincing, that she truly recovered from her health problems by winning an impressive game against Zhao Xue.
Antoaneta Stefanova
Round 3 results:
GM Zhao Xue 2538 – GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2488 0 – 1
GM Hou Yifan 2629 – GM Koneru Humpy 2613 ½ – ½
WGM Ju Wenjun 2532 – IM Khotenashvili Bela 2518 1 – 0
GM Dzagnidze Nana 2541 – WGM Muminova Nafisa 2332 1 – 0
GM Dronavalli Harika 2503 – GM Danielian Elina 2460 ½ – ½
GM Muzychuk Anna – GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2532 1 – 0
Round 3 standings:
1-2. GM Hou Yifan 2629 CHN and WGM Ju Wenjun 2532 CHN – 2½
3-6. GM Koneru Humpy 2613 IND, GM Muzychuk Anna 2561 UKR, GM Dronavalli Harika 2503 IND and GM Dzagnidze Nana 2541 GEO – 2
7. GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2488 BUL – 1½
8-9. GM Danielian Elina 2460 ARM and GM Zhao Xue 2538 CHN – 1
10-12. WGM Muminova Nafisa 2332 UZB, GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2532 RUS and IM Khotenashvili Bela 2518 GEO – ½
Round 4 pairings:
GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2488 – GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2532
GM Danielian Elina 2460 – GM Muzychuk Anna 2561
WGM Muminova Nafisa 2332 – GM Dronavalli Harika 2503
IM Khotenashvili Bela 2518 – GM Dzagnidze Nana 2541
GM Koneru Humpy 2613 – WGM Ju Wenjun 2532
GM Zhao Xue 2538 – GM Hou Yifan 2629
No one can beat Kosteniuk.
I hope GM Stefanova will win this tournament..