♕ OCL SHOP: http://www.iChess.net/shop/
♕ ARTICLE: http://www.iChess.net/2011/10/22/fide-womens-chess-grand-prix-2011/ ♕ http://Pogonina.com
♕ rel=”nofollow”>http://facebook.com/iChessnet ♕ http://twitter.com/OnlineChessLess
In this video, I take an in-depth look at Xue’s monsterous round 8 victory over the aforementioned Russian female chess star, Nadezhda Kosintseva. At this point in the tournament, Xue had achieved a significant lead over the field with an incredible score of 6.5/7, however Ju Wenjun and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya were close on her heels. Xue opened with d4, and Kosintseva played a fashionable line of the Queen’s Indian Defense with 4. …Ba6. Xue responded with 5. Qa4, and went on to quickly achieve pressure on the d-file by doubling her rooks with 12. Rd2 and 13. Rad1 – making black’s subsequent development of her queenside knight an uncomfortable affair. This d-file pressure provoked Kosintseva into playing 14. …e5 – creating a static weakness on the d5 square which played a critical role in the middlegame. Xue played very precisely and continued building her pressure against Kosintseva’s center – then switched at the perfect moment to a very dangerous kingside attack with 20. Bxh6! and 21. Rxd4! This exchange sacrifice enabled Xue to maintain constant, long-term pressure against Kosintseva’s kingside – which white was able to accurately convert to a full point in 35 moves.
PGN Available at: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1643823
FINAL STANDINGS FOR 2011 WOMEN GRAND PRIX:
Rank Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Rp
1 GM Zhao Xue 2497 CHN * 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9½ 2817
2 WGM Ju Wenjun 2536 CHN 1 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 7 2606
3 IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 2421 RUS ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 6 2551
4 GM Cmilyte Viktorija 2525 LTU 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 2541
5 GM Lahno Kateryna 2554 UKR 0 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 5½ 2502
6 GM Zhu Chen 2490 QAT 0 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 5 2472
7 GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2536 RUS 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 2468
8 GM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2560 RUS 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 5 2466
9 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2528 BUL 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 1 5 2469
10 IM Galliamova Alisa 2498 RUS 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 0 4½ 2443
11 IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2467 MGL 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 * 1 4 2408
12 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2469 RUS 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 * 3½ 2377
Interface used ICC: http://www.chessclub.com/from/WStewart/