Hou Yifan Wins Rostov GP

16 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Rostov Women’s Grand Prix, Hou Yifan of China, the reigning Women’s World Champion, became the new Rostov GP champion with 8 points. The Rostov GP is the first leg of six Grand Prix events to be played in four countries – Russia, China, Armenia and Turkey.

Chess.com reported that Women's World Champion Hou Yifan finished on a score of 8/11 to claim victory in the first Women's Grand Prix of the 2011/12 series in Rostov.

After a tremendous 5½/6 start to the competition, Hou never looked likely to be caught.

Second place goes to Kateryna Lahno, the only player to beat Hou in their individual game.

Humpy Koneru, who will challenge Hou Yifan for the world title in Nov/Dec could only finish in the middle of the 12-strong field.

 

(table and picture courtesy of Chess.com)

Chessdom.com reported that FIDE announces the Women's Grand Prix 2011-2012 which will give qualification to the Women's World Championship match 2013. The schedule of the six events is the following:

1-15 August 2011, Rostov, Russia
6-20 September 2011, Shenzhen, China
8-23 October 2011, Nalchik, Russia
30 May - 13 June 2012, Kazan, Russia
16-30 July 2012, Jermuk, Armenia
16-30 November 2012, Istanbul, Turkey

In total 18 players will participate - 10 qualifiers as per regulations, 6 nominees from the organisers of each tournament and 2 nominees of the FIDE President.

Here is the winning game which gave the win to GM Hou Yifan, China, over top seed, GM Koneru Humpy of India. The game was played during the first round of the Rostov Women Grand Prix 2011, Rostov-on-Don Russia.

[Event "Rostov Women GP"] [Site "Rostov-on-Don RUS"] [Date "2011.08.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Koneru, Humpy"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2614"] [BlackElo "2575"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2011.08.02"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4 c6 9. Bd3 a5 10. O-O Na6 11. Bc2 Nc7 12. f3 c5 13. Na4 Na6 14. Nc3 Nc7 15. Qe2 b5 16. dxc5 Bxc5 17. Rd1 Ba6 18. Qf2 Bb7 19. Bd2 Re8 20. Nce2 Ne6 21. Nd3 Bb6 22. Nd4 Rc8 23. Bc3 Ba6 24. Kh1 Rc4 25. Bb3 Rc7 26. Rac1 b4 27. Nxe6 Rxe6 28. Bxf6 Rxf6 29. Rxc7 Bxc7 30. axb4 axb4 31. f4 Bc4 32. Qc2 Bxb3 33. Qxb3 Rb6 34. Nc5 h6 35. Rxd5 Qh4 36. h3 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Rg6 38. Qc2 Qxe3 39. Nd3 Bb6 40. Nc5 Qxf4+ 41. Kh1 Qf1+ 0-1

 

 
Links:

Rostov FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011 (Rostov-on-Don RUS)
Mon 1st Aug 2011 - Mon 15th Aug 2011 - Official Site - Results - Live

Rostov WGP 2011 (12 players 11 Rds SRR Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Games