Can Humpy do it today at Doha Women's Chess Grand Prix?

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hello everyone,


Saturday is going to be crucial at the sixth Women's Chess Grand Prix final round in Doha today. Danielian may opt to take a short draw against Antoaneta Stefanova to secure at least equal first. Humpy needs to beat Zhu Chen with black in the last round in order to challenge the reigning world champion Hou Yifan in this year's championship match.


Just when we thought Humpy had slipped back with a draw in the previous round, she is back. All this was made possible because of the results of Round 10 which were as follows:

Ti.	Name	Rtg	Result	Ti.	Name	Rtg
GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2550	0-1	GM	Zhu Chen	2495
GM	Koneru Humpy	2607	1-0	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2475
IM	Fierro Baquero Martha L	2363	0-1	GM	Xu Yuhua	2484
GM	Cramling Pia	2516	1-0	GM	Danielian Elina	2454
GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2546	½-½	IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	2410
GM	Sebag Marie	2489	½-½	GM	Chiburdanidze Maia	2502

Humpy was in a must-win situation against 

Lilit to keep her chances alive.

Saturday's crucial last round pairings:

Ti.	Name	Rtg	Result	Ti.	Name	Rtg
GM	Chiburdanidze Maia	2502	-	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2550
IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	2410	-	GM	Sebag Marie	2489
GM	Danielian Elina	2454	-	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2546
GM	Xu Yuhua	2484	-	GM	Cramling Pia	2516
IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2475	-	IM	Fierro Baquero Martha L	2363
GM	Zhu Chen	2495	-	GM	Koneru Humpy	2607

Standings so far after Round 10

Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts 1 8 GM Danielian Elina 2454 ARM 7½ 2 1 GM Koneru Humpy 2607 IND 7 3 5 GM Sebag Marie 2489 FRA 7 4 3 GM Cramling Pia 2516 SWE 5½ 5 12 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 GEO 5 6 6 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2502 GEO 5 7 9 GM Xu Yuhua 2484 CHN 4 8 10 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2475 ARM 4 9 2 IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2363 ECU 4 10 7 IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2410 MGL 4 11 11 GM Zhu Chen 2495 QAT 3½ 12 4 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2546 BUL 3½ Stay tuned for all the latest updates. The official website can be accessed here.

For an understanding of the overall Grand Prix positions read our www.chessblog.com from yesterday here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com