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No draws in the seventh round. Muzychuk and Khotenashvili are leading. |
 It’s well-known that women play uncompromised chess, so all six games were decisive at the round seven of Neva Fondation Women Grand Prix in Geneva. The victories of Black outnumbered White’s success with 5 to 1. Anna Muzychuk outplayed another leader after 6th round Tatiana Kosintseva. Bela Khotenashvili won against Viktorija Cmilyte and Katerina Lagno lost against Hou Yifan. As a result, Slovenian Anna Muzychuk and Bela Khotenashvili from Georgia tied for the first place with 5 out of 7 points. Chinese player Ju Wenjun, who defeated Anna Ushenina today, is on the sole third place half a point behind the leaders. Alexandra Kosteniuk managed to break through unfortunate series and won against Tuvshintugs Batchimeg. Nana Dzagnidze defeated Olga Girya and has +1 after 7 rounds.
 Tuvshintugs Batchimeg - Alexandra Kosteniuk 0-1
Mongolian player got comfortable position with White and, as Alexandra said at the press-conference, it was not easy to find the plan for Black. Former world champion was not sure if 10…cd was the right move as her original idea to play 11…Nd5 didn’t work because of g3. Both opponents estimated the position as equal after 18. de but Alexandra was hoping that her black square bishop will be better than his opponent after some exchanges. The bishop and queen endgame looked equal but Russian player kept on trying to find small chances. Later on she managed to grab a pawn and Queen’s ending was winning for Black.
 Viktorija Cmilyte - Bela Khotenashvili 0-1
The position with opposite castling appeared on the board and the game became very sharp, as both players tried to find the way to the opponents’ king. After 18.e6 Bela Khotenashvili played unpredictable move 18…Ne5. According to Viktorija Cmilyte, she was calculating 20. Nd5 and 20.Ne5 but it was hard to realize that after 20.Bd3 it would be difficult to play this position with White. It seems that the best practical solution for White would be to play 20.Ne5 immediately.
 Anna Ushenina - Wenjun Ju 0-1
The shortest game of the round 7. Anna Ushenina tried to play aggressively against Dutch Defense but it seems Ju Wenjun was better prepared today. After 9…e5 Chinese player estimated her position as “better and more comfortable to play”. White had big problems with development and didn’t manage to get any counter play. After Black advanced the central pawns his advantage became decisive.
 Kateryna Lagno - Hou Yifan 0-1
Before the start of the game a funny incident took place. Ju Wenjun mixed the boards and took the place of Hou Yifan. Katerina was surprised to see her opponent from the previous round. “Would you like to play against me once again”, said Ukrainian player and everyone started to laugh.
Katerina Lagno played creatively at the opening and got playable position. Former world champion transferred her rook from h8 to a6 but Katerina Lagno didn’t manage to use the unfortunate position of opponents’ rook. As Ukrainian player said at the press-conference she simply forgot that Black could play 31… ab after 31.Bb6. Both players agreed that the position of White was worse after that and Black was just increasing his advantage.
 Olga Girya - Nana Dzagnidze 0-1
Nana Dzagnidze decided to play something new in the opening and chose the line with 4…Bb4 and 5…a5. Black managed to get enough counter play on the King’s side while White tried to create some play on opposite side of the board. The position became sharp after 18…b5 and White played inaccurate 20.f3. Calm 20.g3 was not dangerous to play as White had defensive maneuver Rd4-Rh4. The last chance for Russian was to play 22.e7 because after 22.Rdc1 Black got decisive advantage and managed to convert it into a full point.
Anna Muzychuk - Tatiana Kosintseva 1-0
Check later on our website the game analysis provided by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin.
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