English Chess Forum

Currently taking place in the outskirts of Moscow, two places in the next Candidates' Tournament being there to be won. Ju Wenjun, who won't qualify for either place on account of being world champion already, leads wirh 3/4, jointly with Valentina Gunina.

Gunina's played a red move early doors when you'd maybe expect her to be still within her preparation, unless Stefanova's 9...g5 is new

Amazing scenes in Gunina v Stevanova where White recovered a draw from a position of about minus five after having played like a drain for 25 moves or so. Harika let slip an advantage of similar dimensions against Kosteniuk.

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:59 pm

Gunina's played a red move early doors when you'd maybe expect her to be still within her preparation, unless Stefanova's 9...g5 is new

Gunina,V [GM 2502]-Stefanova,A [GM 2491] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.d3 d6 7.c3 Ba7!? 8.h3 (Be3... 0-1 [31] Georgiadis,I [2312]-Stefanova,A [2520] 2006 Kavala Op.) 8... h6 9.Re1 g5!? 10.Nh2N!? (d4 Qe7 11.de de 12.Bc6 bc 13.Be3 g4 14.hg Be3 15.Re3 Ng4... 1/2 [39!] Matoewi,R [2219]-Harper,R [2284] 2013 Paramaribo) 10... g4 11.hg Rg8... 1/2 [39!] FIDE Womens' GP 2019

So, the above 9... g5, played p.d.q. by Stefanova, is not new (Gunina's reply took about 6 mins.) but this one might be -

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O Re8 7.Bg5 a6!? 8.Ba4 h6 9.Bh4 g5N!? (b5 10.Bc2 g5 ... 0-1 [46] Giri-Nakamura 2016 Paris) 10.Bg3 b5 11.Bb3 d6... 0-1 [42] ??-?? [2.1] FIDE World Cup 2019

TWIC

It is the first of four Women's Grand Prix events. 16 players compete in the series. 12 players compete in each of the four round robin events. Players: Dronavalli Harika, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Pia Cramling, Humpy Koneru, Valentina Gunina, Kateryna Lagno, Elisabeth Paehtz, Wenjun Ju, Antoaneta Stefanova, Alina Kashlinskaya, Marie Sebag, Anna Muzychuk, Mariya Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze and Xue Zhao.

Thanks for that, my understanding of what was happening clearly pretty wonky.

At the time I read your "red move" I thought Stefanova's understanding was wonky, too.

Seems she didn't give it any thought at the board if clock times are to be believed.

Not sure about 9.Nh2 by Gunina - a bit defensive - 9.d4 by the Suriname FM Roger Matoewi is the standard central reply but he came under attack and had to take a perpetual to avoid losing.

??-?? is Maghsoodloo v. Aronian from round 2 (game 1, I think), which also surprised me - looks like Black can advance on both wings and if White does not find an effective response, somewhere, it will just result in Black beating a White retreat.

I would particularly like Harika to do well and ideally win the world championship...because I've played her.

I lost, obviously, but "I have played the world champion" would be a nice boast to be able to make.

R6 pairs -

Paehtz,E (2479) 2.5 - 3.5 Gunina,V (2502)
Stefanova,A (2491) 2 - 3 Lagno,K (2545)
Cramling,P (2487) 1.5 - 3 Koneru,H (2560)
Goryachkina,A (2564) 3 - 2.5 Dronavalli,H (2503)
Kosteniuk,A:(2495) 2 - 1.5 Sebag,M (2450)
Ju,W (2576) 3.5 - 2 Kashlinskaya,A (2487)

Goryachkina is absolutely pasting Harika, and her opponent in January, Ju, shouldn't be detained too long. In the absence of Hou these two do look a class above the rest.

Round-up after three hours: Cramling was playing Olympiads before any of the other seven were even born, and her age may be showing a bit as she gets worn down. Kosteniuk v Sebag is a tight game. Gunina is worse against Paehtz but not on the clock, and for the second time in as many days Stefanova is resisting her opponent's attempts to throw the game at her.

Ju wins. Kosteniuk and Sebag draw a very drawn game. Stefanova losing her won game today, as opposed to the draw she got from a won game yesterday. Gunina has lost her time advantage and is losing everything else. Cramling still struggling but not dead yet.

A funny thing happened in Goryachnika v Harika: White, with plenty of time for four moves and a plus eight position, passed up what look like a couple of instant-resignation inducers for a move that kept the game alive, albeit still comfortably won if White keeps her head. The extra half-hour she shortly recieved ought to be helpful in that respect.

R6 results -

Paehtz,E (2479) [2.5] 1-0 [3.5] Gunina,V (2502)
Stefanova,A (2491) [2] 0-1 [3] Lagno,K (2545)
Cramling,P (2487) [1.5] 0 -1 [3] Koneru,H (2560)
Goryachkina,A (2564) [3] 1-0 [2.5] Dronavalli,H (2503)
Kosteniuk,A (2495) [2] 1/2 [1.5] Sebag,M (2450)
Ju,W (2576) [3.5] 1-0 [2] Kashlinskaya,A (2487)

Rest day tomorrow

Future GPs are Monaco, 2-15 December, Lausanne, 1-20 March, and Sardinia, 20 May to 10 June

Official website

After a rest day play just resumed.

Standings -

1. Ju 4.5/6

2-4. Goryachkina, Koneru, Lagno 4/6

5-6. Gunina, Paehtz 3.5/6

7-8. Harika, Kosteniuk 2.5/6

9-11. Stefanova, Kashlinskaya, Sebag 2.0/6

12. Cramling 1,5/6

R7 pairs -

Gunina,V (2502) Ju,W (2576)

Koneru,H (2560) - Stefanova,A (2491)

Lagno,K (2545) - Paehtz,E (2479)

Sebag,M (2450) - Goryachkina,A (2564)

Kashlinskaya,A (2487) - Kosteniuk,A (2495)

Harika,D (2503) - Cramling,P (2487)

Lagno-Paehtz, French Defence, started at a rate of knots,