This article is a summary please check out 2011 Women’s Chess Grand Prix – Xue Dominates with 2800+ Performance for the full article with an interactive chessboard and more information

The 3rd Women’s Grand Prix of the 2011 season was dominated from start to finish by Chinese female chess star Zhao Xue. Xue’s results have suffered in recent times, and many had written her off as just another falling star. One of her close competitors at this event, Nadezhda Kosintseva, knows just how good Zhao Xue is really playing these days – declaring “A lot of people have written her off. Nothing to say – she is a fighter!” Going into the last round of the 3rd Women’s Grand Prix in Nalchik, Zhao Xue boasted one of the most incredible performance ratings ever achieved by a female chess player – over 3000 FIDE. Even after her last-round loss to fellow Chinese superstar Ju Wenjun, Xue finished the tournament with a performance rating of well over 2800 FIDE.

In the following 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.

This article is a summary please check out 2011 Women’s Chess Grand Prix – Xue Dominates with 2800+ Performance for the full article with an interactive chessboard and more information

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William Stewart is a National Master. He specializes in Online Chess Coaching and maintains a daily updated Chess Blog

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

The third stage of FIDE women’s Grand Prix which was held in the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria Nalchik (Russia) has finished with a triumph of the Chinese chess players. Zhao Xue (CHN) won an absolute victory in the tournament and she ensured it over two rounds before the end of the competition. The last round which was held on Friday had to solve the question who will take the second and the third places.

After all Ju Wenjun (CHN) finished the second, in the last round she managed to defeat the winner of the tournament, it was the only defeat for Xue. In the final standings Wenjun scored 7 out of 11, being behind her compatriot for 2.5 points.

The third and the fourth places were shared between Russian Ekaterina Kovalevskaya and Victoria Chmilyte from Lithuania. In the last round both of them played in a draw: Kovalevskaya with black against Bulgarian Antoaneta Stefanova, Cmilyte with white against Zhu Chen from Qatar.
Ukrainian Kateryna Lahno defeated Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk in the 11th round, another Russian chess player Alisa Galliamova prevailed over Batkhuyag Mongontuul from Mongolia.

The Chinese How Yifan winning the first two stages of the series is leading in total score after three stages. Her assets are 320 points. Zhao Xue has advanced up to the second place, after two stages she owns 235 points. Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia is on the third line with 230 points.

The fourth stage of the women’s series Grand-Prix FIDE 2011/2012 will be held in May – June 2012, in Kazan.

Rk		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts	SB	Rp
1	GM	Zhao Xue	2497	CHN	*	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9½	46,50	2817
2	WGM	Ju Wenjun	2536	CHN	1	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	0	½	7	39,75	2606
3	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	2421	RUS	½	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	0	6	33,75	2551
4	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	2525	LTU	0	½	0	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	6	29,25	2541
5	GM	Lahno Kateryna	2554	UKR	0	½	½	0	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	5½	26,75	2502
6	GM	Zhu Chen	2490	QAT	0	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	0	5	25,00	2472
7	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	2536	RUS	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	5	24,50	2468
8	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	2560	RUS	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	5	23,00	2466
9	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2528	BUL	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	1	1	1	5	23,00	2469
10	IM	Galliamova Alisa	2498	RUS	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	*	1	0	4½	23,75	2443
11	IM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	2467	MGL	0	1	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	*	1	4	21,75	2408
12	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2469	RUS	0	½	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	*	3½	19,00	2377

Visit: Official website

All games in PGN file.

View the Photo Gallery of the closing ceremony

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Kosintseva Tatiana – Kosintseva Nadezhda

In this duel we know everything from the very beginning: girls never play against each other, even when one of them needs to win the game. “There was a situation in the Russian Superfinal when in the case of a victory one of us could become a champion and the other get the bronze medal. But there wasn’t any real fight”, said Tanya.

The girls played the variation that usually happens in their games. After the game both sisters looked happy and relaxed: the hard tournament finally finished… But it seemed only from the first sight. “Some kind of a crisis happened, which is still should be overcome”, said Nadya.”But we promise to do our best to show our real strength in future.”

Ju Wenjun – Zhao Xue

The Chinese “show” in Nalchik turned out to be very “bloody”. This time for “H.M” Zhao Xue who lost her only game in the last round. But nevertheless it’s hard to blame her because there was a moment in the middle game when she denied the offer of Ju to repeat the position.

“I’m really very glad to take the second place”, Wenjun shared the thoughts. “And I should admit that I won the game not only because I played well, but also because of Zhao’s mistakes.”

Well, we have to congratulate Ju Wenjun and wish her success on the forthcoming Chinese league.

Kosteniuk Alexandra – Lahno Kateryna

The Ukrainian grandmaster won the game confidently. It’s really a pity that for Sasha this tournament became also as unsuccessful as the previous stage in Rostov. And it doesn’t seem that the former world champion was playing without motivation. Maybe something has broken in her “winning machine”… Maybe we don’t know something. But it’s clear that Alexandra will overcome this crisis and show us her real strength.

“Sasha played quite aggressive in the opening pushing the pawns a4 and g4 without castling what wasn’t the best decision I guess”, explained Katya. “And I managed to use this.”

Cmilyte Viktorija – Zhu Chen

The game between the European champion and the former world champion ended in a draw. The battle turned to be very solid and lasted for more than 50 moves, but nevertheless the winner wasn’t defined. The variation of Slav defence arose, on the move 15 they changed the queens and moved to the ending. Maybe Zhu Chen had a chance to intercept the initiative. But to be honest white didn’t make any obvious mistakes.

Probably Viktorija can be quite satisfied with the result of this Grand Prix stage which happened to be more successful for her than the previous one. Zhu Chen also proved her very high level finishing the tournament with the 50% result.

Galliamova Alisa – Munguntuul Batkhuyag

Unfortunately not in every grand Prix game the girls are fighting for the top places. This time Alisa tried to move from the last place (what actually is not the best motivation for such titled chess player as Galliamova) and did that. Nevertheless Alisa was the real professional in this game. She chose the solid Catalon variation and achieved the advantage. After Tuul’s mistake white got 2 pieces for the rook. But we cannot but admit that the position didn’t look very easy to be won. The girls had to pass through a time trouble. After that Alisa’s purposefulness helped her to win the game.

We hope that this victory sweetened Alisa’s impressions of the competition. What concerns Tuul – she still has to prove her high level.

Stefanova Antoaneta – Kovalevskaya Ekaterina

We cannot but admit that Katya Kovalevskaya was in a good shape on this tournament. Especially if we compare it to the other stages of Grand Prix. And if she won this game she could be among first three winners. But it’s not so easy to win against Antoaneta, especially with black. In the Zukertort variation the Bulgarian got a perspective position. After Katya’s mistake 28… Re7 Stefanova could intercept the initiative and put the problems for her opponent. But the vice-world champion showed the persistence and made a draw.

No doubts: both chess players can show great results and we’ll see it in future.

Official website: http://nalchik2011.fide.com

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Final round results

Official website: http://nalchik2011.fide.com

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1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 a6 5. Qd2 b5 6. f3 Bb7 7. g4 h5 8. g5 Nfd7 9. a4 b4 10. Nce2 c5 11. dxc5 dxc5 12. Rd1 Nc6 13. Nf4 Bg7 14. Bh3 Nb6 15. Qf2 Qc7 16. Nge2 O-O 17. a5 Nc4 18. Bxc5 Nxb2 19. Rd7 Qxa5 20. O-O Bc8 21. Nd5 Bxd7 22. Bxd7 Ne5 23. Bxb4 Qd8 24. Bh3 Nc6 25. Ba3 Nc4 26. Bc5 e6 27. Nf6+ Bxf6 28. gxf6 Qxf6 29. Bxf8 Rxf8 30. f4 e5 31. Kh1 Nd2 32. Rg1 exf4 33. Nxf4 Nxe4 34. Qe3 Qd4 35. Qxd4 Nxd4 36. Kg2 Nxc2 37. Nxh5 Rd8 38. Nf4 Ng5 39. Bg4 Ne3+ 40. Kf2 Nxg4+ 41. Rxg4 Rd4 42. Rxg5 Rxf4+ 43. Kg3 Ra4 44. h4 Kg7 45. Rc5 Ra1 46. h5 gxh5 47. Rxh5 a5 48. Kf4 a4 49. Kf5 Rf1+ 50. Ke4 a3 51. Ra5 Ra1 52. Rg5+ Kf6 53. Rg2 Re1+ 54. Kd5 Re5+ 55. Kc4 Ra5 56. Kb4 a2 0-1

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Zhao Xue – Kosintseva Tatiana

You’ll laugh, but the Chinese won again! Well, either the stars have developed in the right way or Zhao is so fantastically strong. Probably both variations. After all Xue really put problems for her opponents in every game. And Tatiana also couldn’t resist a pressure. The Queen’s Indian happened in the game. Xue chose the variation with the pawn sacrifice on d5. And here the leader of the tournament showed enormous understanding of the position. She outplayed Tatiana, for whom the tournament wasn’t the best one. The apogee of the game was the brilliant sacrifice – 23. Ng7!

“In the opening I played the variation which happened in my practice before, by the way against the Russian girls. That’s why I knew the ideas”, – Xue said.

“This isn’t “my tournament”, Tatiana shared. “ I managed to win only one game. I got quite good positions with white, but couldn’t convert them into a victory”.

Zhu Chen – Ju Wenjun

The game happened to be really fascinating. White couldn’t get the initiative in the variation of the King’s Indian. Maybe because of Ju’s plan 13… Ne8. In the middle game Zhu decided to sacrifice the exchange, which wasn’t correct enough and lost not only the initiative, but was outplayed by the Chinese grandmaster.

“To be honest I was lucky in this game because in the opening I didn’t get any advantage”, said Wenjun. “But my opponent made a mistake and I managed to use this”.

Well, we cannot but admit the fact that Ju Wenjun is fighting for the second place. But! Tomorrow she’ll face the leader and nobody knows what will happen – either we’ll see a short draw or the great Chinese battle.

Munguntuul Batkhuyag – Kosteniuk Alexandra

Unfortunately the end of the tournament wasn’t lucky enough for Alexandra. Even she had all the chances to finish it good. The former world champion outplayed the opponent and got a huge advantage. But something happened to Sasha and after the first control she almost crashed her position by herself.

“In the opening I didn’t get anything and was making everything to lose the game”, agreed Tuul. “But in some moment my opponent “helped” me” a lot”.

“I think that I made a fatal mistake on the move 69… Rb4”, said Sasha with bitterness. “And I almost lost the game by myself”.

Kovalevskaya Ekaterina – Galliamova Alisa

Katya and Alisa have been playing against each other since their childhood and it’s really hard to remind the score. “In the last years we didn’t play a lot between each other”, Alisa said. “First I left chess, then Katya. Now we both are back”. We should admit that during the long period Kovalevskaya and Galliamova played together in one team – the Russian national team. But sport is sport, and friendship should stay out of the chess board. And the game is the best proof for that.

Kovalevskaya played the Sicilian defence with 3.с4 and didn’t get any advantage there. Alisa found an interesting idea 4…g5!? with the opportunity for the counter play on the King’s side. By the way black made a blunder 19… g4 because she didn’t see the reply 20.g3. After that the position became very pleasant for white. But Katya also blundered and lost her advantage because of 28.Kg2. Finally the game ended in a draw what seems to be quite logical for such “an action movie”.

Kosintseva Nadezhda – Stefanova Antoaneta

After three losses in a row we could hardly call Antoaneta’s mood positive. But nevertheless the former world champion managed to show her great sportive spirit and showed a worthy game. Of course Nadya also “helped” her. She didn’t manage to get any advantage in the opening and her position couldn’t be called perspective. After 25…Nс4 black intercepted the initiative.
“I thought that after 25… Nс4 I was better”, Antoaneta told the journalists. “But I didn’t see how to improve my position. Anyway in the situation that happened after a time trouble the pieces activity was enough for at least a draw. To be honest after three losses draw is a good result”.

“What concerns me it’s time to make the conclusions before the European Team Championship”, Nadezhda shared her thoughts. “It’s clear that this tournament wasn’t the one that I’ll recollect with pleasure. And now I’ll be trying to find the explanation because very soon I’ll have a double responsibility – for myself and for the team”.

Lahno Kateryna – Cmilyte Viktorija

The European champion chose Yanish variation in Ruy Lopez system and managed to show the solid and interesting fight. Unexpectedly after move 18… Bd5 (that didn’t look the most attractive one) Katya started to make mistakes move by move. White afforded black’s pieces to come to the King side even without organizing any counter play. And after move 26… Bc5 Kateryna had to give up the exchange. Sure that the Ukrainian grandmaster was fighting till the last chance. But to be objective this kind of positions is almost undefended against such an experienced player as Viktorija. In the ending the Lithuanian realized an extra rook and won the game.

It’s hard to believe but so many top chess players will recollect this tournament with bitterness! But for Viktorija there is still a chance for the second place.
Official website: http://nalchik2011.fide.com/index.php

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Nikita Kim, Press-Officer of the tournament, reflects about the phenomenon of the third stage Grand Prix winner.

Oh, how unbelievable women chess is! You could hardly imagine two weeks ago that the 9th rated chess player in the tournament could have 8.5 points after 9 games and she would be a comfortable winner with 2 rounds to go. Almost all the leaders of the world of female chess gathered in Nalchik with the exception of Hou Yifan, Humpy Koneru from India and Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia.

Three former world champions: Zhu Chen, Antoaneta Stefanova and Alexandra Kosteniuk were in the list of competitors. The Russian top women players: two sisters, Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva and also former World candidate Alisa Galliamova. The champion of Europe Viktorija Cmilyte, and the number one of the Ukrainian national team Kateryna Lahno.

This phenomenal achievement of Zhao Xue reminds us of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov at their best. But the 11th and the 13th world champions achieved such success in a period when they dominated their opponents. But we couldn’t say that Zhao was a favourite in this tournament.

But it was possible to send all initial prognosis in a pile after crazy start of the Chinese – 6 from 6! And it is necessary to give the due to Zhao Xue, who did not relax and kept her motivation at the highest level until her inevitable victory. “I remember the tournament where I was a leader with the result 7.5 out of 9. But then I lost the last 2 games. So I was really worrying until that moment when I was unapproachable by the others.”

What is the difference between Zhao Xue nowadays and her play last year? Here is her own opinion on this question: “There is not much difference but I feel myself more confident here. The matter is sometimes I rely not only on variations, but more on intuition. Feelings can deceive when you are in a bad shape. But it is perfect here that I can combine them both”.

Does Zhao Xue consider challenging the world champion title in this cycle? “ I haven’t had such an aim yet. I played in the semifinal in the last world championship and did not get to the first 3 places in general standings in Grand Prix. Now I want just to play better”.

What we can also say about the Chinese chess player? She is very nice and pleasant to talk to (as the other participants of Grand Prix, by the way) though she is rather too modest for a player of such level.

It looks like there is no aggression in her character which is really peculiar for great champions. It is obvious that the she just loves chess and enjoys it. Nothing personal towards her opponents. Moreover at every press conference it seemed that Zhao Xue was a bit shy after every victory. “ I was very lucky”- it is the traditional summary of Zhao Xue after every game. Though “very lucky” she was just against Ekaterina Kovalevskaya who really had a chance to stop the winner. But it has not happened. So amazingly the result of Zhao looks natural!

The participants of Grand Prix also give the due to Zhao Xue, though they are not ready to consider her as the new leader of world chess. This means that the Chinese woman played one fantastic tournament, but it cannot guarantee her the next results. But of course everybody agreed that it was a brilliant performance. “ My congratulations to Zhao, she achieved phenomenal result which is perhaps unrepeatable at all” – said Kateryna Lahno.”

“Zhao is a good girl, – says Nadezda Kosintseva. – Recently she had been playing unsuccessfully and lowered her rating. A lot of people have written her off. Nothing to say – she is a fighter!”

“My congratulations to the winner. And we promise that we will do our best to provide her a “harder” tournament life the next time”- assured us Alexander Kosteniuk.

But let’s not forget about the world champion Hou Yifan who obviously has her own chess opinion on her compatriot’s victory. Will this phenomenal success of Zhao Xue be the only one or is it a sign of an appearance of a new leader in female chess for the following years? We can get an answer in the next Grand Prix.

Source: http://nalchik2011.fide.com

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