Shenzhen Women's Grand Prix - Five tied for first after five rounds

by ChessBase
9/12/2011 – After the fourth and fifth rounds, Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue were first joined in the lead by Anna Muzychuk in round four, and then by Tan Zhongyi and Ruan Lufei in round five. The rest day, after the fourth round, coincided with a special Chinese holiday that celebrates the moon's brightest and most beautiful appearance in the year, including colorful festivities around it. A beautiful pictorial.

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The second stage of FIDE Women's Grand Prix cycle 2011-2012 is being staged from 5th to 20th of September in the Wuzhou Hotel in Shenzhen, China. The tournament is being organized by the Shenzhen Press Group in collaboration with FIDE and Chinese Chess Federation. The participants include the current Women World Champion Hou Yifan and the former World Champion Zhu Chen, the current European Champion Viktorija Cmilyte. The winner of the tournament will receive 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 Euros. Games startat 3:00 p.m. local time (round 11 starts at noon). Rest days are September 11th (after round four) and September 16th (after round eight).

Participants

#
Name
Nat.
Title
Rating
 1
 Hou Yifan
 CHN
 GM
 2578
 2
 Ju Wenjun
 CHN
 WGM
 2536
 3
 Victorija Cmilyte
 LTU
 GM
 2525
 4
 Zhu Chen
 QAT
 GM
 2490
 5
 Anna Muzychuk
 SLO
 IM
 2545
 6
 Zhao Xue
 CHN
 GM
 2497
 7
 Betul Cemre Yildiz
 TUR
 WIM
2308
 8
 Munguntuul Batkhuyag
 MGL
 IM
2465
 9
 Elina Danielian
 ARM
 GM
2517
 10
 Tan Zhongyi
 CHN
 WGM
 2429
 11
 Ruan Lufei
 CHN
 WGM
2477
 12
 Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
 RUS
 IM
2421

Round 4 – Saturday, 10 September 2011
Two Chinese players, Zhao Xue and Hou Yifan, made a quick draw and kept their leading positions after round four. Anna Muzychuk won the game against Yildiz Betul and joined the group the leaders. Ju Wenjun and Ruan Lufei won their games against Zhu Chen and Elina Danielian respectively. The matches Ekaterina Kovalevskaya-Viktorija Cmilyte and Munguntul Bathhuyag-Tan Zhongyi were drawn. The victories of Black outnumbered White’s successes by 3 to 0. Full report here.

Round 5 – Monday , 12 September 2011
Two more players joined the leaders at 3.5/5, so that five players are now tied for places one through five. Ruan Lufei won her second straight game, this time against Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, and also has the highest Elo performance. Tan Zhongyi beat Betul Yildiz to also join the leaderboard. European Champion Viktorija Cmilyte lost to Batkhuyag Munguntuul who scored her first win in the tournament while Elina Danielian also scored her first win at Ju Wenjun's expense.

[Event "Shenzhen WGP 2011"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2011.09.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Danielian, E."] [Black "Ruan Lufei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2477"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2011.09.07"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O O-O 11. a3 a6 12. b4 a5 13. Rb1 axb4 14. axb4 Qe7 15. e4 e5 16. Ne2 Bxb4 17. Ng3 exd4 18. e5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 c5 20. Bf4 {Although this is a top engine choice, and it decalres the position as equal, it is hard to believe White was comfortable going into this. Those rolling pawns can easily change the evaluation from 'equal' to winning with the slightest imprecision.} ({Eljanov's decision to immediately neutralize the pawns seems wiser.} 20. Rxb4 cxb4 21. Re1 Qe6 22. Qb1 Rfe8 23. Qxb4 Ra1 24. Qb2 Qd5 25. Nf3 Rxe1+ 26. Nxe1 Ra2 27. Qb1 g6 28. h3 b4 29. Qxb4 Ra1 30. Qb2 Qa2 31. Qxa2 Rxa2 32. Ne2 Ne4 33. Nxd4 Nxf2 34. Bc4 Ra4 35. Kxf2 Rxc4 36. Be3 Ra4 {1/2-1/2 (36) Eljanov,P (2720)-Gustafsson,J (2634) Dresden 2008}) 20... c4 21. Bf5 $2 {A mistake.} ({White had to restore the balance with} 21. Nxc4 $1 bxc4 (21... Rfc8 22. Qb2 bxc4 23. Nf5 Qf8 24. Qxb4 Qxb4 25. Rxb4 cxd3 26. Rxb7 $18) 22. Qxc4 Bc3 23. Nf5 Qd7 24. Qc5 $11) 21... d3 22. Qd1 $2 (22. Nxd3 cxd3 23. Qxd3 Rfd8 ( 23... Ba6 $2 24. Ne4 Nxe4 25. Bxe4 {wins the exchange since} Rad8 $2 26. Bxh7+ Kh8 27. Qh3 {is mate.}) 24. Qxb5 $11) 22... Nd5 23. Qg4 Nxf4 24. Qxf4 g6 25. Nd7 Rfd8 26. Qd4 Ra6 27. Rxb4 Qxb4 28. Nf6+ Rxf6 29. Qxd8+ Kg7 30. Qc7 Bc6 31. Be4 Qd6 32. Qa5 Qe5 33. Bxc6 Rxc6 34. Re1 Ra6 $1 {Tit for tat.} 35. Qb4 Ra1 { Keeping it simple.} 36. Rxa1 Qxa1+ 37. Nf1 Qe5 38. Qd2 Qd4 39. Qb4 Qe5 40. Qd2 h5 41. f4 Qd4+ 42. Qf2 Qf6 43. Qd2 b4 44. Qxb4 c3 45. Nd2 c2 46. Qa3 Qd4+ 47. Kh1 Qe3 48. Qc3+ Kh7 49. Nb3 Qe2 50. h4 d2 51. Kh2 d1=Q 0-1

Rest day

On 11th of September the players enjoyed a day off. Most of the participants, trainers and organizers embarked on the rest-day’s activities but some preferred to stay in the hotel and relax before the next games. The organizers of the Grand Prix launched some special agenda for the participants. In the morning twelve, twelve players visited one of the sponsors of the tournament. – Xiang Yun Sha. It is a fashion company which makes clothes from special silk called xiang yun sha. It is an intangible cultural heritage of China. The sponsor provided each player with dresses and flowers.


The players gather for a picture before starting their tour


The parks illustrate Western architecture and themes, which for China would be the
epitomy of exoticism.


One of the many lovely views of the parks


The purpose isn't to necessarily have an adrenaline rush ride, but rather to enjoy the
beautiful and relaxing surrounding.


In the evening the lit up buildings can be very beautiful

After the launch, all participants and companions had a chance to visit the Oct East Theme Park. It is a theme park that was opened in summer of 2007, but it's a bit hard to categorize. OCT is one of the biggest real estate companies in Shenzhen that managed to buy an area of about nine square kilometres in the east of Shenzhen. The main attractions are the three major theme parks: Knight Valley, Tea Stream Valley and Wind Valley. There is also a huge golf course, hotels and real estate.


Anna Muzychuk poses with a pair of giant ladybugs


A young visitor finds a different use for them


Ju Wenjun


The ladies had a lot of fun during the day off


Simon says: "Jump up and down!"


The participants pose for a photo shoot

In the Chinese lunar calendar tradition, the seventh, eighth and ninth months comprise Autumn. During fall, the skies are commonly clear and cloudless and the nights crisp and sharp. In these night sky conditions, the moon appears to be at its brightest.


In the evening there were live shows with colorful figurines


The imagination...


...and complexity of the shows are something the Chinese are deservedly famous for.


The visual effects of the lighting and shadows is down to an art


Of course, one must not neglect the Lady Moon, guest of honor of the festivities

During this period the festival celebrates the moon's appearance as the brightest and most beautiful throughout the year. As the holiday coincided with the Grand Prix, so all guests has the opportunity to enjoy the tradition and enjoy the moon during the evening. It is customary here to spend time with your friends and family and sit outside under a starless sky, gazing at the moon. This ancient Chinese tradition goes back nearly 1,400 years!

Besides the obvious, moon-gazing, Chinese families celebrate by getting together and eating. After all excursions everybody could enjoy the dinner in a restaurant. Zhu Chen and her parents during the dinner.

Standings after five rounds

Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich and He Long


Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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