The FIDE Women World Blitz Championship 2014 started today at the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, with Mayor Vassily Filipenko making the first honorary move in the game A. Muzychuk – Cramling.
34 female players from 14 countries are competing for the title and prize fund of $50,000.
On the first day five rounds with ten games were played. Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia dominated the tournament arena, taking a convincing lead with 9,0/10 points, a full two points ahead of the nearest followers.
Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia had a furious start, winning first six games before going down 0-2 to A.Muzychuk in round 4. Harika Dronavalli also kept the pace before losing 0,5-1,5 to A.Muzychuk in round 5.
Antoaneta Stefanova recovered after the round two loss to Tatiana Kosintseva and played a string of good games to reach the 2nd place with 7,5/10 points.
Dzagnidze, Harika and defending champion Valentina Gunina (Russia) are sharing the third place with 7,0 points each.
The next 6th round will see the clash A.Muzychuk-Stefanova on the top board.
The FIDE Women World Blitz Championships 2014 will be completed over three days, 26-28th April, with 15 double rounds (30 games) in Swiss format.
The time control is 3 minutes + 2 seconds additional time per move, starting from move 1. Top three finishers will earn $12,000-9,000-6,000, respectively.
