The central game of the eighth round between Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan finished in a draw and the two Chinese players remain at the top of the Sharjah FIDE Women’s Grand Prix leaderboard with 6,5 points each.
Batchimeg Tuvshintugs outplayed Alina L’Ami to keep the third place one point behind the leaders.
Elina Danielian defeated Nafisa Muminova and now shares the fourth place with Anna Ushenina and Harika Dronavalli.
Other games finished in draws, but Zhao Xue had the best chance to grab the full point in the clash against Tatiana Kosintseva.
Hou Yifan needs only one draw to secure the overall first place in the FIDE Women Grand Prix Series 2013-2014. Wednesday is rest day.
Ju Wenjun – Hou Yifan
Round 8 results:
GM Zhao Xue 2508 ½ – ½ GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494
GM Ushenina Anna 2487 ½ – ½ GM Koneru Humpy 2598
GM Zhu Chen 2461 ½ – ½ GM Harika Dronavalli 2521
WGM Ju Wenjun 2559 ½ – ½ GM Hou Yifan 2661
GM Danielian Elina 2490 1 – 0 WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315
WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346 1 – 0 WGM L’ami Alina 2446
Round 8 standings:
1-2. GM Hou Yifan 2661 CHN and WGM Ju Wenjun 2559 CHN – 6½
3. WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346 MGL – 5½
4-6. GM Ushenina Anna 2487 UKR, GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 IND and GM Danielian Elina 2490 ARM – 4½
7-8. GM Zhao Xue 2508 CHN and GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494 RUS – 4
9. GM Koneru Humpy 2598 IND – 3½
10. WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315 UZB – 2
11. GM Zhu Chen 2461 QAT – 1½
12. WGM L’ami Alina 2446 ROU – 1
Round 9 pairings:
WGM L’ami Alina 2446 – GM Zhao Xue 2508
WGM Muminova Nafisa 2315 – WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2346
GM Hou Yifan 2661 – GM Danielian Elina 2490
GM Harika Dronavalli 2521 – WGM Ju Wenjun 2559
GM Koneru Humpy 2598 – GM Zhu Chen 2461
GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2494 – GM Ushenina Anna 2487
Elina Danielian
Batchimeg Tuvshintugs
Photos by Maria Emelianova, courtesy of the official website
