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Hou Yifan or Humpy Koneru? Final Women's GP Under Way in Sharjah
- PeterDoggers
- on 26.08.14 02:06.
Each women GP tournament is a 12-player, single round-robin with a 60,000 EUR prize fund. Eighteen players all play four of the six tournaments, in which they accumulate Grand Prix points: 160 grand prix points for first place, 130 for second place, 110 for third place, and then 90 down to 10 points by steps of 10. Only the best three tournament results are counted.
The 2013-2014 Grand Prix series started with a surprising victory for Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia) in Geneva, Switzerland. The next two GPs were won by Humpy Koneru (India), in Dilijan, Armenia and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The following two were also won by one player: Hou Yifan (China) was victorious in both Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia and Lopota, Georgia.
The sixth and final Grand Prix was opened last Sunday in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The games will be played at the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club. The tournament will mostly be about the fight between Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru, who are number 2 and 1 in the overall standings. Will the reigning world champion gain 5 points or more than her rival, win her third GP in a row and take the trophy?
Women GP 2013-2014 | Standings After 5 Tournaments
# | Player | Rtg | Geneva | Dilijan | Tashkent | Khanty-Mansiysk | Lopota | Sharjah | Played | Best 3 |
1 | Koneru,H | 2598 | 160 | 160 | 50 | x | 3 | 370 | ||
2 | Hou,Y | 2661 | 45 | 160 | 160 | x | 3 | 365 | ||
3 | Muzychuk,A | 2555 | 130 | 120 | 85 | 50 | 4 | 335 | ||
4 | Dzagnidze,N | 2550 | 100 | 120 | 65 | 90 | 4 | 310 | ||
5 | Khotenashvili,B | 2494 | 160 | 10 | 120 | 20 | 4 | 300 | ||
6 | Lagno,K | 2540 | 60 | 120 | 85 | 3 | 265 | |||
6 | Ju,W | 2559 | 75 | 70 | 120 | x | 3 | 265 | ||
8 | Dronavalli,H | 2521 | 60 | 85 | 75 | x | 3 | 220 | ||
9 | Girya,O | 2484 | 10 | 30 | 55 | 130 | 4 | 215 | ||
9 | Kosteniuk,A | 2531 | 45 | 55 | 110 | 50 | 4 | 215 | ||
11 | Kosintseva,T | 2494 | 100 | 90 | 15 | x | 3 | 205 | ||
12 | Stefanova,A | 2505 | 60 | 30 | 65 | 75 | 4 | 200 | ||
13 | Ushenina,A | 2487 | 75 | 80 | 45 | x | 3 | 200 | ||
14 | Danielian,E | 2490 | 30 | 40 | 120 | x | 3 | 190 | ||
15 | Zhao,X | 2508 | 85 | 45 | 30 | x | 3 | 160 | ||
16 | Batchimeg,T | 2346 | 20 | 60 | 15 | x | 3 | 95 | ||
17 | Cmilyte,V | 2525 | 30 | 30 | 2 | 60 | ||||
17 | Muminova,N | 2315 | 20 | 30 | 10 | x | 3 | 60 | ||
19 | Nakhbayeva,G | 2336 | 10 | 1 | 10 | |||||
20 | L'Ami,A | 2446 | x | 0 | 0 | |||||
21 | Zhu,C | 2461 | x | 0 | 0 |
A group photo during the opening ceremony. | Photo © Anastasiya Karlovich courtesy of FIDE
The first round definitely went her way, as Hou Yifan started with a
win, while Humpy Koneru lost her first game. Nafisa Muminova of
Uzbekistan was hanging on for a long time, but as soon as Hou Yifan's
attack started there was no chance for survival.