Chengdu GP 07+08: Harika beats Humpy, recaptures pole position
The Chengdu Grand Prix is being hosted by China from 1-15th July 2016. In a range of stars, two Indians are in the fray, and not surprisingly, both of them have always been there for the nation in the Grand Prix cycle for quite some years now. Harika was pitted against Humpy in the seventh round and we witnessed a full-blown battle that Harika won with good play. Harika has retaken the lead and is on 5.5/8, while Humpy follows closely on 5.0/8. An illustrated report.
Chengdu GP 07+08: Harika beats Humpy, recaptures pole position
The Chengdu Grand Prix is being hosted by China from 1-15th July 2016. The organizer of the tournament is the Chinese Chess Association, in partnership with the International Chess Federation (FIDE). This is the fourth stage of the 2015-16 FIDE grand Prix cycle.
In a range of stars, two Indians are in the fray, and not surprisingly, both of them have always been there for the nation in the Grand Prix cycle for quite some years now.
In the Italian game, white emerged from the opening with a small space advantage. After all minor pieces were exchanged white was already putting pressure on black's position.
Black was forced to unfavorable exchange and white obtained a powerful asset in the advanced a-pawn. On the top of that white rooks controlled the 7th rank.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.09"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2526"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:10"]
[BlackClock "0:00:02"]
Nf6 {30} 5. d3 {30} O-O {34} 6. h3 {31} Re8 {35} 7. a4 {38} h6 {35} 8. Re1 {33}
a6 {34} 9. c3 {32} d6 {31} 10. Nbd2 {34} Be6 {32} 11. Bxe6 {32} Rxe6 {31} 12.
b4 {30} Ba7 {31} 13. Qc2 {31} Re8 {37} 14. Nf1 {34} b5 {35} 15. Ng3 {38} Ne7 {
34} 16. d4 {34} Nd7 {36} 17. Be3 {35} Ng6 {42} 18. Nf5 {36} Ne7 {30} 19. Ng3 {
30} Ng6 {29} 20. Nf5 {30} Ne7 {30} 21. dxe5 {40} Bxe3 {32} 22. Nxe3 {34} Nxe5 {
30} 23. Nxe5 {31} dxe5 {30} 24. Red1 {32} Qc8 {29} 25. c4 {39} bxa4 {39} 26.
Qxa4 {30} Qb7 {39} 27. Nd5 {30} c6 {35} 28. Nxe7+ {31} Qxe7 {30} 29. c5 {39}
Qb7 {30} 30. Rd6 {29} Rec8 {31} 31. Qa5 {31} Rab8 {32} 32. Ra4 {30} Qb5 {31}
33. Qxb5 {30} Rxb5 {29} 34. f3 {30} a5 {35} 35. bxa5 {30} Rxc5 {30} 36. a6 {30}
Kf8 {30} 37. Rd7 {31} Ke8 {30} 38. Rb7 {30} Rb5 {31} 39. h4 {32} g6 {30} 40.
Kh2 {3} h5 {2} 41. Ra2 {32} Kf8 {45} 42. Kg3 {30} Kg7 {32} 43. Rd7 {35} c5 {34}
44. a7 {30} Ra8 {30} 45. Rc7 {30} Rb4 {32} 46. Kf2 {31} c4 {33} 47. Ke2 {32}
Rb3 {32} 48. Rd2 {30} Ra3 {30} 49. Rdd7 {30} Rf8 {29} 50. Rxc4 {31} Ra2+ {30}
51. Ke3 {31} Ra3+ {31} 52. Kd2 {30} Ra2+ {30} 53. Rc2 {30} Ra6 {30} 54. Kc1 {30
} g5 {32} 55. hxg5 {30} Kg6 {30} 56. Rb7 {31} Ra8 {30} 57. Rcc7 {29} Kxg5 {30}
58. Rxf7 {30} Kh4 {30} 59. Kb1 {33} Kg3 {31} 60. Rg7+ {29} Kf2 {30} 61. Kb2 {33
} h4 {29} 62. Kb3 {32} h3 {31} 63. gxh3 {29} Kxf3 {29} 64. h4 {32} Kxe4 {30}
65. h5 {30} Kd3 {30} 66. Rgd7+ {30} Ke3 {30} 67. Kb4 {31} e4 {30} 68. Kb5 {31}
Rh6 {31} 69. Rh7 {30} Re6 {30} 70. Rb8 {31} Rxa7 {30} 71. Rxa7 {30} Re5+ {29}
72. Kc4 {30} Rxh5 {30} 73. Ra3+ {29} Kf4 {29} 74. Rf8+ {30} 1-0
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.10"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Stefanova, Antoaneta"]
[Black "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2512"]
[BlackElo "2526"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:48"]
[BlackClock "0:00:44"]
{32} 5. Nbd2 {32} O-O {32} 6. e4 {31} Nbd7 {40} 7. h3 {37} e5 {41} 8. dxe5 {29}
dxe5 {30} 9. Be3 {34} b6 {31} 10. b4 {38} a5 {34} 11. Qb1 {33} Bb7 {36} 12. Bc4
{36} Ne8 {36} 13. Bg5 {37} Bf6 {35} 14. Bh6 {33} Bg7 {30} 15. Bg5 {30} Bf6 {29}
16. Bh6 {30} Bg7 {30} 1/2-1/2
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.10"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Black "Cramling, Pia"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D25"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[BlackElo "2463"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:03"]
[BlackClock "0:00:14"]
{32} 5. a4 {31} b4 {30} 6. Bxc4 {30} e6 {29} 7. O-O {31} Be7 {30} 8. Qe2 {33}
Bb7 {30} 9. a5 {30} a6 {30} 10. Nbd2 {31} O-O {31} 11. e4 {31} c5 {38} 12. e5 {
30} Nd5 {30} 13. Nb3 {31} Nd7 {36} 14. Bd3 {36} cxd4 {41} 15. h4 {39} Qc7 {36}
16. Re1 {33} Rfc8 {33} 17. Bd2 {40} Qd8 {32} 18. Ng5 {38} Nf8 {39} 19. Qh5 {44}
Bxg5 {41} 20. Bxg5 {30} Qe8 {32} 21. Qg4 {31} Kh8 {32} 22. Qxd4 {34} h6 {31}
23. Bd2 {29} Rd8 {30} 24. Qg4 {33} Ne7 {35} 25. Re3 {34} Nf5 {35} 26. Bxf5 {33}
exf5 {30} 27. Qxf5 {30} Bd5 {30} 28. Be1 {39} Ne6 {30} 29. Qg4 {31} Qb5 {31}
30. Nc1 {31} Rab8 {33} 31. Ne2 {31} Ba8 {31} 32. f4 {31} Rbc8 {38} 33. f5 {31}
Rc4 {30} 34. Qh5 {30} Nf4 {31} 35. Nxf4 {30} Rxf4 {30} 36. Qe2 {31} Qxe2 {30}
37. Rxe2 {29} Rxf5 {30} 38. Bxb4 {30} Rd4 {30} 39. Bd6 {31} Bc6 {31} 40. Rc2 {0
} Bb5 {0} 41. Rc5 {38} Be2 {35} 42. b4 {35} Rdf4 {38} 43. Ra2 {32} Re4 {31} 44.
Rc1 {34} Bb5 {31} 45. h5 {32} Rxh5 {33} 46. Rf2 {36} Reh4 {31} 47. Rfc2 {32}
1/2-1/2
Pairings for Round 09:
| SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
| 5 | WGM | Tan Zhongyi | 2495 | - | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2545 | 12 |
| 6 | IM | Javakhishvili Lela | 2487 | - | WGM | Girya Olga | 2444 | 4 |
| 7 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2578 | - | GM | Zhao Xue | 2510 | 3 |
| 8 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2526 | - | GM | Khotenashvili Bela | 2454 | 2 |
| 9 | GM | Cramling Pia | 2463 | - | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2512 | 1 |
| 10 | GM | Muzychuk Anna | 2545 | - | GM | Koneru Humpy | 2575 | 11 |