Khanty-Mansiysk 01-06: Batsiashvili leads; Harika on fifty percent

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 26/11/2016

The final leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix is in progress at Khanty-Mansiysk in Ugra, Russia. Twelve players, including India's GM Dronavalli Harika, are competing for top honors. After six rounds of play, Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili leads the tournament with 4.5/6. Four players follow her a point behind. GM Dronavali Harika is on 3.0/6 with a win and a loss apiece. We have an illustrated report with analysis.

Khanty-Mansiysk 01-06: Batsiashvili leads; Harika on fifty percent

Visuals: Eteri Kublashvili, Anna Volkova, and Anastasia Popova

Koneru Humpy leads the Grand Prix standings as the final leg is progress in Khanty-Mansiysk. But she is not playing — and this means that if Ju Wenjun finishes at third place or higher in this event, she tops the standings.

Why is it so important? Because the winner of the Grand Prix is scheduled to play the world champion in a 10-game match. The world champion will be decided by the 2017 World Championship to be held in the Knock-Out format in Iran.

The final leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix is in progress at Khanty-Mansiysk in Ugra, Russia. Twelve players, including India's GM Dronavalli Harika, are competing for top honors.

The venue and host: Ugra Chess Academy (Yes, that is a chess academy).

GM Dronavalli Harika (2543) settled for a draw with WGM Olga Giriya (2450) in the sixth round.

After six rounds of play, Harika has scored fifty-percent, that is, 3.0/6. But more importantly, Harika has made one noticeable change in her repertoire — in the three games with white so far, she has opened with 1.e4.

In the second round, she faced Nino Batsiashvili with the white pieces. Harika gained a pleasant position out of the opening but went astray, taking too much time for some of her moves.

Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili (2489) beat Harika in the second round. Fun Fact: Did you know that Batsiashvili had held Magnus Carlsen to a draw last year?

Nino Batsiashvili was on a winning spree. She lost to GM Valentina Gunina in the fourth round, but has only one draw otherwise, winning the remaining four games. Nino now leads the event by a full point with 4.5/6.

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.11.20"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Batsiashvili, Nino"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2543"]
[BlackElo "2489"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:27:39"]
[BlackClock "0:25:23"]

1. e4 {0} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bc4 {0} Nf6 {4} 4. d3 {14} Bc5 {6} 5.
O-O {46} d6 {109} 6. c3 {128} a6 {16} 7. Re1 {264} Ba7 {151} 8. Bb3 {56} Ne7 {
500} 9. Nbd2 {712} O-O {223} 10. Nf1 {237} Ng6 {44} 11. Ng3 {369} h6 {412} 12.
h3 {50} Re8 {181} 13. d4 {198} exd4 {1175} 14. cxd4 {188} c5 {35} 15. Be3 {964}
Be6 {1258} 16. Bc2 {408} Rc8 {239} 17. Qd2 {469} Bb6 {435} 18. a3 {446} cxd4 {
88} 19. Nxd4 {185} Ne5 {154} 20. Nxe6 {174} Rxe6 {15} 21. Bxb6 {473} Qxb6 {2}
22. b4 {78} Nc4 {75} 23. Qd1 {180} Rce8 {388} 24. Rf1 {172} Re5 {296} 25. Kh1 {
140} d5 {43} 26. Bb3 {6} Qc6 {247} 27. exd5 {53} Rxd5 {7} 28. Qc2 {97} b5 {42}
29. Rac1 {84} Rd4 {37} 30. Nf5 {50} Rde4 {14} 31. Ne3 {45} Rc8 {66} 32. Bxc4 {
21} bxc4 {3} 33. Rfd1 {35} g6 {58} 34. Qc3 {39} Nh5 {54} 35. Rd4 {27} Nf4 {11}
36. Rxe4 {25} Qxe4 {1} 37. f3 {27} Qe6 {10} 38. Rf1 {44} Ne2 39. Qd2 {33} Ng3+
{18} 40. Kg1 {0} Nxf1 {0} 41. Kxf1 {0} c3 {0} 42. Qd3 {0} h5 {0} 43. g4 {0} Qc6
{0} 44. Nc2 {0} Qb5 {0} 45. Qxb5 {0} axb5 {0} 46. Ke2 {0} Rd8 {0} 47. Ke3 {0}
Kg7 {0} 48. g5 {0} h4 {0} 49. f4 {0} Rd1 {0} 0-1

Batsiashvili and Harika analyze

In the fourth round, Harika was able to beat GM Natalia Zhukova (2448).

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.11.22"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White"Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Zhukova, Natalia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2543"]
[BlackElo "2448"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:07:33"]
[BlackClock "0:00:33"]

1. e4 {0} e6 {0} 2. d4 {0} d5 {3} 3. Nd2 {0} Be7 {297} 4. Ngf3 {21} Nf6 {21} 5.
e5 {20} Nfd7 {10} 6. Bd3 {54} c5 {18} 7. c3 {14} b6 {54} 8. O-O {184} Ba6 {11}
9. Ne1 {17} Bxd3 {169} 10. Nxd3 {3} Nc6 {35} 11. Qg4 {324} g6 {524} 12. Nf3 {63
} h5 {45} 13. Qg3 {303} Qc7 {813} 14. Bd2 {1098} O-O-O {105} 15. Rac1 {74} Kb7
{591} 16. h4 {637} Rc8 {352} 17. Rfd1 {370} Ka8 {791} 18. Be3 {662} cxd4 {421}
19. cxd4 {83} Qb7 {7} 20. Bg5 {389} Bxg5 {146} 21. Qxg5 {5} Rc7 {125} 22. Rc3 {
111} Rhc8 {39} 23. Rdc1 {70} a5 {548} 24. Kh2 {188} Ka7 {253} 25. a3 {39} b5 {
242} 26. Kh3 {406} Nb6 {422} 27. b3 {184} Ne7 {43} 28. Nc5 {121} Qb8 {2} 29.
R3c2 {116} Na8 {86} 30. Qd2 {208} Qb6 {17} 31. Ng5 {83} Nf5 {56} 32. Qd3 {54}
Qb8 {78} 33. a4 {42} Qb6 {33} 34. axb5 {24} 1-0

Zhukova and Harika analyze

The logos of the organizers and the sponsors of this well-organized tournament.

GM Ju Wenjun (2580) needs to buck up and start winning some games if she hopes to win the Grand Prix series. She needs to finish at least third. Right now, she has scored 3.0/6 with a win and a loss apiece. The loss came against...

...Former World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2555). She has scored 3.5/6 and is tied for the second spot with three others.

GM Valentina Gunina (2525) also won her first two games, but then fell behind Batsiashvili by losing the third. In the fourth, she beat Batsiashvili to catch up but then lost again in the sixth round. She is on 3.5/6.

IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (2435) of Iran is also on 3.5/6.

Russian GM Olga Giriya is also on 3.5/6.

Pairings for Round 07:

Round 7 26.11.2016 03.00 PM
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
4	IM	Batsiashvili Nino	2489	–	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2461	12
5	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	2492	–	IM	Khademalsharieh S.	2435	3
6	GM	Zhukova Natalia	2448	–	IM	Skripchenko Almira	2455	2
7	GM	Ju Wenjun	2580	–	GM	Gunina Valentina	2525	1
8	WGM	Girya Olga	2450	–	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2555	11
9	GM	Khotenashvili Bela	2426	–	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2543	10

Crosstable:

Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts
1	IM	Batsiashvili N.	2489	GEO	*	0	½		1	1				1	1		4½
2	GM	Gunina V.	2525	RUS	1	*	0					0	½		1	1	3½
	IM	Sarah K.	2435	IRI	½	1	*		½	½					½	½	3½
	WGM	Girya O.	2450	RUS				*		½	½	½	1	0		1	3½
	GM	Kosteniuk A.	2555	RUS	0		½		*		1	½	1		½		3½
6	GM	Harika D.	2543	IND	0		½	½		*	½	1	½				3
7	GM	Ju Wenjun	2580	CHN				½	0	½	*	½		½		1	3
8	GM	Zhukova N.	2448	UKR		1		½	½	0	½	*		½			3
9	WGM	Pogonina N.	2492	RUS		½		0	0	½			*	1	½		2½
10	GM	Khotenashvili B.	2426	GEO	0			1			½	½	0	*		½	2½
11	IM	Skripchenko A.	2455	FRA	0	0	½		½				½		*	½	2
12	IM	Javakhishvili L.	2461	GEO		0	½	0			0			½	½	*	1½

Grand Prix Standings:

Rank	Player	Rating	Monte	Tehran	Batumi	Chengdu	Khanty-	Total
Rank	Player	Rating	Carlo	Tehran	Batumi	Chengdu	Mansiysk	Total
1	Koneru Humpy (India)	2557	120	70	NP	145	NP	335
2	Ju Wenjun (China)	2580	NP	160	NP	93⅓		253⅓
3	Zhao Xue (China)	2508	NP	120	70	60	NP	250
4	Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine)	2561	30	NP	100	93⅓	NP	223⅓
5	Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine)	2532	120	NP	40	60	NP	220
6	Valentina Gunina (Russia)	2525	NP	45	160	NP		205
6	Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia)	2507	50	85	70	NP	NP	205
8	Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)	2555	65	NP	130	NP		195
9	Dronavalli Harika (India)	2543	NP	45	NP	145		190
10	Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria)	2512	65	15	NP	93⅓	NP	173⅓
11	Natalia Pogonina (Russia)	2492	85	85	NP	NP		170
12	Hou Yifan (China)	2635	160	NP	NP	NP	NP	160
13	Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran)	2435	10	120	NP	NP		130
14	Pia Cramling (Sweden)	2461	85	30	NP	10	NP	125
15	Nino Batsiashvili (Georgia)	2489	NP	15	100	NP		115
16	Almira Skripchenko (France)	2455	30	NP	70	NP		100
17	Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine)	2448	30	60	NP	NP		90
18	Olga Girya (Russia)	2450	NP	NP	40	35		75
18	Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia)	2461	NP	NP	40	35		75
20	Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia)	2426	NP	NP	10	60		70
21	Elina Danielian (Armenia)	2444	NP	NP	20	NP	NP	20
21	Tan Zhongyi (China)	2492	NP	NP	NP	20	NP	20

Note: NP means Not Played — a player is allowed to play, maximum, in three GPs.

Joy: Zhukova and Wenjun discuss their game.

The women's Grand Prix is marked by the professionalism of highest degree. The arena is beautiful, the players more so. The chess is mercurial and the style statement...? Well, the picture says it all.