Alexandra Kosteniuk, the only player to score a full point in the 10th round of the Women's Grand Prix in Monaco, joined Humpy Koneru in the second place. Aleksandra Goryachkina drew and keeps her one-point margin.
It is all set at the Yacht Club de Monaco for a thrilling final on Saturday. Humpy Koneru still trails Aleksandra Goryachkina by one point, but tomorrow the Indian will have the white pieces in their showdown.
The leader came out unscathed from her two encounters with the Muzychuk sisters. After escaping defeat against Mariya on Thursday, Goryachkina suffered again on Friday but made a draw. Anna Muzychuk got a very attractive position from the opening but did not manage to find the best way in complications. In the end, the Russian simplified into a drawn endgame and earned a half-point.
Could Humpy Koneru reduce the gap with the leader from Russia? With the black pieces against Pia Cramling, she tried to unbalance the game early on by giving her opponent space advantage. The Swede, who was the number one woman player in the world some 35 years ago, reacted well to the challenge. She seemed to get control over the situation on the board thanks to a better pawn structure, but Koneru actually achieved sufficient activity to keep the balance. At some point, Cramling hastily exchanged rooks and found herself in real danger. Nevertheless, she held the draw making several precise defensive moves. In her short post-game interview, the Indian indicated that all players were very tired and that her last-round clash with Goryachkina might well be a battle of nerves.
In the game between Harika Dronavalli and Alexandra Kosteniuk, the Indian was expected to try her chance to join the lead, or at least to get closer to Goryachkina. She did not play the most aggressive opening, hoping to outplay her opponent at later stages. The fight was balanced until Dronavalli missed Nf6-g4 which gave Kosteniuk a longlasting initiative. The Russian used her chance perfectly, clinched victory in the endgame and jumped to shared second with Koneru.
Both Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue had chances to prevail in their encounter. The Georgian was better at first but found herself on the defending side after making a few mistakes. In a titanic fight that lasted 99 moves and five and a half hours, the longest so far in Monaco, the two champions eventually shared the point.
It looked as if Valentina Gunina was going to suffer yet another defeat in round 10 but it did not happen. Mariya Muzychuk reached an advantageous position with the black pieces but hesitated for a while and allowed the Russian to get back into the game. Gunina eventually secured her first draw in this event and avoided her seventh consecutive loss.
Elisabeth Paehtz mixed up some moves in her opening against Kateryna Lagno but found a way to repeat the position around move 20 to secure a draw.
The Peace and Sport Forum 2019 is taking place at the Hotel de Paris during the FIDE Grand Prix. Former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has been one the champions for Peace since 2010 and was therefore invited to the evening activities on Thursday. On this occasion, she exchanged a few words with H.S.H. Prince Albert II and contributed to making chess more popular worldwide.
The eleventh and final round will begin a bit earlier than usual on Saturday. Joël Bouzou, President of Peace and Sports and adviser of H.S.H. Prince Albert II, will launch the games at 1 pm at the Yacht Club. The closing ceremony will be held at the same place at 8 pm.
Results of round 10:
Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Zhao Xue (China) ½-½
Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) 0-1
Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus): ½-½
Pia Cramling (Swe) – Humpy Koneru (Ind) ½-½
Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) ½-½
Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½
Standings after round 10:
1. Aleksandra Goryachkina - 7 points
2-3. Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk - 6
4-7. Anna Muzychuk, Harika Dronavalli, Kateryna Lagno and Pia Cramling - 5½
8. Mariya Muzychuk - 5
9. Nana Dzagnidze - 4½
10-11. Elisabeth Paehtz and Zhao Xue - 4
12. Valentina Gunina - 1½
11th and the last round, December 14 at 1 pm:
Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus)
Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo)
Zhao Xue (China) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind)
Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger)
Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Pia Cramling (Swe)
Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Valentina Gunina (Rus)
Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Josif Dorfman: https://wgp2019.fide.com
Pictures are available on our official Flickr account.
Text: Yannick Pelletier
Pictures: Karol Bartnik
