A toss in the leaders’ group

Before the last round of FIDE Women Grand Prix in Kazan, three players are on the top.

Competition Day #10 saw Viktorija Cmilyte winning against Nadezhda Kosintseva  to replace Elina Danielian, who was that time defeated by Alisa Galliamova. Elina chose to go into a sharp position in the middle game but missed her nice opportunity on 19th move. It happened so, that her position became worse. Russian Alisa Galliamova, having lost her four previous games, today was precise and pretty smart. She managed to neutralize all the opponent’s threats and left with extra material. Two other leaders Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru made draws against Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk accordingly and are sharing the first three places with Viktorija Cmilyte with 6.5 points.

Alisa Galliamova: - I usually learn some variants preparing towards the games, but here it doesn’t work. I just sit down at the table and can remember nothing, including the first move. I remember I have looked through the variant we have played today, but I have completely forgotten the variants.

FIDE Women Grand Prix 2011-12 is very long: there are 11 tours in each stage. Are there another long competitions in FIDE Calendar?

Alisa Galliamova: There are much fewer long tournaments now, than it used to be several years ago. One of them is the World Championship, which stands pretty long for the one doing well and qualifying to the finals. The tournament is very exhausting. When you are supposed to play the decisive games, you are already far too out of your shape.

Elina Danielian: - I agree, the round robin tournaments are very exhausting. There are days-off of course, but the second day-off was personallt for me not good at all. (Corr. – Elina Danielian lost two games in a row after the day-off).

And what about the rule, according to which one can’t offer draws? Does it make your life here more complicated?

Alisa Galliamova: - It has no bad impact on me (smiling). I had almost had no opportunities to offer a draw.

Elina Danelian: - I like neither offering nor accepting draws.

Betul Yildiz shared points with Katerina Lahno on the 35th move.

Are you tired, ladies?

Betul Yildiz: I am indeed! The tournament is tough, and all opponents here are very strong!

Katerina Lahno: So am I. The distance is pretty long.

The question to Katerina: have you watched EURO-2012 Ukraine – England match, and which team did you support more in Ukraine – France (Corr. – Katerina’s husband is a French reporter)?

Katerina Lahno: I am not likely to support France. It happened so, that both Ukraine and Russia have elapsed from the tournament, so now I will be for Spain, and I hope there will be no bad surprises.  

I watched Ukraine – England of course, and I’m certain, that Ukraine played much better and deserved the win. Referees didn’t count the goal. What can one do about it now? I saw it had been scored! Everything seemed to be against us, and even against me. You know, I was supposed to come to the stadium to watch the match, and was to miss it coming to Kazan tournament.   

Humpy Koneru shared points with Alexandra Kosnenyuk on the 43rd move. 2 moves more took  Viktorija Cmilyte to seal her draw with Nadezhda Kosintseva.

What are your impressions from the tournament?  

Nadezhda Kosintseva: - It was complicated and long indeed! All games were very emotional and one should display one’s best to secures wins.

Viktorija Cmilyte: On the one hand, it’s high time to go back home and at the same time it’s high time not to save oneself and play one’s best with the view to have a good rest afterwards.  

One more draw came with Tatiana Kosintseva sharing points with Antoaneta Stefanova.  

Tatiana, you’re now ranking 8th – 9th together with your sister Nadezhda. Have you ever finished in a tournament with the same results?

Tatiana Kosintseva: - One  more game left, let’s see what we will have in the end.

After 10 rounds of play Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia), Humpy Koneru (India) and Viktorija Cmilyte have collected 6.5 points to top the ranking. Elina Danielian (Armenia) and Hou Yifan (China) are chasing the leaders with 6 points each. Katerina Lahno (Ukraine) and Alexandra Kostenyuk (Russia) are on the 6-th – 7th positions with 5 points, followed by Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia) with half point behind. Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) goes tenth with 4 points, Alisa Galliamova (Russia) ranks 11th with 3 points and Betul Yildiz closes the ranking with 2.5 points.

Nota Bene: According to FIDE Grand Prix Regulations, in case of the points draw between two or more players, there won’t be any special procedure. Each winner will have his points earned, while the overall winner will be revealed after all the Grand Prix stages are completed. 

Pairing of Round 11 of FIDE Women Grand Prix in Kazan: Nadezhda Kosintseva – Anna Muzychuk, Antoaneta Stefanova – Viktorija Cmilyte, Katerina Lahno – Tatiana Kosintseva, Alexandra Kostenyuk – Betul Yildiz, Alisa Galliamova – Humpy Koneru, Hou Yifan – Elina Danielian.