In the dramatic fourth round Ju Wenjun beat Elina Danielian to take the solo lead with 3,5 points in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Sharjah, UAE.
In the battle of the two top seeds, Hou Yifan, playing black, defeated Humpy Koneru, who unexpectedly lost the drawish endgame. Tatiana Kosintseva had winning position against Nafisa Muminova but dropped the advantage in the time trouble. The game finished in a draw, same as another encounter between Harika Dronavalli and Zhao Xue.
Ju Wenjun
Another drama was seen in the game Zhu Chen – Batchimeg Tuvshintugs. Qatari player had better position throughout the whole game but didn’t play well in the rook endgame and even lost at the end.
Alina L’Ami suffered another loss, this time against Anna Ushenina.
Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan of China, Harika Dronavalli of India, former Women’s World Champion Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs of Mongolia follow the leader with 3 points each.
Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru analysing the game
Round 4 results:
GM Zhao Xue 2508 – GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 ½ – ½
GM Koneru Humpy 2598 – GM Hou Yifan 2661 0 – 1
GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494 – WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315 ½ – ½
GM Ushenina Anna 2487 – WGM L’ami Alina 2446 1 – 0
GM Zhu Chen 2461 – WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346 0 – 1
WGM Ju Wenjun 2559 – GM Danielian Elina 2490 1 – 0
Round 4 standings:
1. WGM Ju Wenjun 2559 CHN – 3½
2-5. GM Hou Yifan 2661 CHN, GM Ushenina Anna 2487 UKR, WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346 MGL and GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 IND – 3
6. GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494 RUS – 2½
7. GM Zhao Xue 2508 CHN – 2
8-9. GM Danielian Elina 2490 ARM and GM Koneru Humpy 2598 IND – 1½
10. WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315 UZB – 1
11-12. GM Zhu Chen 2461 QAT and WGM L’ami Alina 2446 ROU – 0
Round 5 pairings:
GM Danielian Elina 2490 – GM Zhao Xue 2508
WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346 – WGM Ju Wenjun 2559
WGM L’ami Alina 2446 – GM Zhu Chen 2461
WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315 – GM Ushenina Anna 2487
GM Hou Yifan 2661 – GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494
GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 – GM Koneru Humpy 2598
Zhu Chen – Batchimeg Tuvshintugs
Anna Ushenina – Alina L’Ami
Nafisa Muminova
Photos by Maria Emelianova, courtesy of the official website
