Women's Chess Grand Prix: Stefanova, Zhao in joint lead after 5 rounds

GM Antoaneta Stefanova

Hi Everyone,

Former Women's World Chess Champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova won her third straight game at the Women's Grand Prix in Ulan Bator, Mongolia in the fifth round. She now leads jointly with GM Zhao Xue. Both have four points each.

In the fifth round Stefanova got the better of Tatiana Kosintseva. Top seed GM Koneru Humpy drew yet again. She played Black against GM Zhu Chen. Meanwhile, GM Maia Chiburdanidze beat GM Xu Yuhua and WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre lost to WGM Shen Yang. GM Hou Yifan beat GM Marie Sebag.

Earlier, just before the start of the fifth round, Maia Chiburdanidze was felicitated for being the Women's World Chess Champion five times and continuing to play. You can check the official website for more details.

Results of Round 5

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1. WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre-WGM Shen Yang 0-1

2. GM Hou Yifan-GM Sebag Marie 1-0

3. GM Zhu Chen-GM Koneru Humpy ½ - ½

4. GM Chiburdanidze Maia-GM Xu Yuhua 1-0

5. IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag-GM Zhao Xue ½ - ½

6. GM Stefanova Antoaneta-GM Kosintseva Tatiana 1-0

Standings after Round 5

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1. GM Stefanova Antoaneta 4

2. GM Zhao Xue 4

3. GM Hou Yifan 3½

4. GM Koneru Humpy 3½

5. GM Chiburdanidze Maia 3

6. GM Kosintseva Tatiana 3

7. GM Xu Yuhua 2

8. GM Zhu Chen 1½

9. IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 1½

10. GM Sebag Marie 1½

11. WGM Shen Yang 1½

12. WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre 1

Here is the nice Stefanova-Kosintseva game with both players caught in a time scramble. You can check the moves in the pgnplayer or watch the flashplayer below.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 g6 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. Ne2 Bd6 6. g3 c6 7. Bg2 f5 8. b3 Be6 9. Qd3 Nd7 10. Nd2 Nf6 11. c4 Ne4 12. c5 Bc7 13. b4 h5 14. Nf3 Qf6 15. h4 Qg7 16. O-O f6 17. b5 g5 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Qa6 Bd7 20. Rab1 O-O 21. Rb7 Bc8 22. Rfb1 Bxb7 23. Rxb7 Qd7 24. hxg5 Nxg5 25. Nh4 Rfb8 26. Nf4 Ne4 27. Qxa7 1-0

Here is the interesting Chiburdanidze-Yuhua game with the pgn moves.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Bf4 Be4 7. Qd2 d5 8. Nc3 Bd6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Qe3 Qe6 13. Nxe4 Qxe4 14. Qxe4+ dxe4 15. Nd2 f5 16. g4 g6 17. gxf5 gxf5 18. Bh3 Rf8 19. Rc1 Nd7 20. Nc4 Ke7 21. Ne3 Ke6 22. Rg1 Bxh2 23. Rg6+ Rf6 24. Bxf5+ Kd6 25. Bxe4 Rxg6 26. Rc6+ Ke7 27. Nd5+ Kf7 28. Bxg6+ Kg7 29. Bf5 Nf8 30. Nxc7 Rd8 31. e3 h5 32. Ke2 Bd6 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

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