2012 FIDE Women's Grand Prix - Ankara

All DRAWS??????  Okay...  Muzychuk, who outranks Stefanova by 100 points, took a draw with the white pieces?  PGN isn't available yet -- what did they play - 14 moves?  Zhao Xue drew with Kubra Ozturk, whom she outranks by 250 points?  Did they play - 7 moves?  Were they trying for Fool's Mate, perhaps? Holy Goddess!  Guess the ladies really wanted to get to free time and that day off tomorrow.  Really, I've no other explanation for what happened today except to shake my head in disbelief.  So, maybe this is the way it is in the big leagues, rather than each player battling it out until the bitter end.  But you know what, it still sucks. 

The only player I give any credit to, today, is Koneru, because I know Munguntuul is a tough player and she's still trying to pull herself up in the ranks.  Everyone else just mailed it in.

Round 8 on 2012/09/24 at 15:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
12	GM	KOSINTSEVA TATIANA	2524	½ - ½	WGM	RUAN LUFEI	2492	10
11	WGM	JU WENJUN	2528	½ - ½	GM	CMILYTE VIKTORIJA	2520	9
1	IM	MUNGUNTUUL BATKHUYAG	2434	½ - ½	GM	KONERU HUMPY	2593	8
2	GM	MUZYCHUK ANNA	2606	½ - ½	GM	STEFANOVA ANTOANETA	2502	7
3	WGM	OZTURK KUBRA	2294	½ - ½	GM	ZHAO XUE	2549	6
4	GM	SOCKO MONIKA	2463	½ - ½	WGM	YILDIZ BETUL CEMRE	2341	5

Standings after R8:

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts	Res.	SB
1	8	GM	KONERU HUMPY	2593	IND	*		½	1	½	1	½	1	1	1			6½	0	24,75
2	2	GM	MUZYCHUK ANNA	2606	SLO		*	½			½	½	1	1	½	1	1	6	0	18,25
3	6	GM	ZHAO XUE	2549	CHN	½	½	*	½	0	1	1			1	½		5	½	20,25
4	10	WGM	RUAN LUFEI	2492	CHN	0		½	*	½			½	1	½	1	1	5	½	14,25
5	9	GM	CMILYTE VIKTORIJA	2520	LTU	½		1	½	*	½		0	0	1		1	4½	½	17,00
6	11	WGM	JU WENJUN	2528	CHN	0	½	0		½	*			1	1	1	½	4½	½	12,75
7	1	IM	MUNGUNTUUL BATKHUYAG	2434	MGL	½	½	0				*	½	½	½	½	1	4	½	13,50
8	12	GM	KOSINTSEVA TATIANA	2524	RUS	0	0		½	1		½	*		½	½	1	4	½	13,00
9	5	WGM	YILDIZ BETUL CEMRE	2341	TUR	0	0		0	1	0	½		*		½	½	2½	0	8,50
10	7	GM	STEFANOVA ANTOANETA	2502	BUL	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½		*			2	0	9,50
11	3	WGM	OZTURK KUBRA	2294	TUR		0	½	0		0	½	½	½		*	0	2	0	7,75
12	4	GM	SOCKO MONIKA	2463	POL		0		0	0	½	0	0	½		1	*	2	0	5,50

Free day tomorrow.  Round 9 match-ups as follows:

Round 9 on 2012/09/26 at 15:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
5	WGM	YILDIZ BETUL CEMRE	2341	-	GM	KOSINTSEVA TATIANA	2524	12
6	GM	ZHAO XUE	2549	-	GM	SOCKO MONIKA	2463	4
7	GM	STEFANOVA ANTOANETA	2502	-	WGM	OZTURK KUBRA	2294	3
8	GM	KONERU HUMPY	2593	-	GM	MUZYCHUK ANNA	2606	2
9	GM	CMILYTE VIKTORIJA	2520	-	IM	MUNGUNTUUL BATKHUYAG	2434	1
10	WGM	RUAN LUFEI	2492	-	WGM	JU WENJUN	2528	11

A Key Game is Koneru v. Muzychuk.  Everyone will be watching that on September 26th.  The Chinese will triple-team and put themselves in excellent position to steal the title in the last rounds.  Everyone, pull out your calculators and try your hands at various win/loss/draw scenarios to see what the odds are for Koneru to be knocked out of first place.  Stefanova may actually win a game, if she wakes up long enough.  Is Monika Socko pregnant?  Just wondering.  I've no other explanation for her dismal performance in this event thus far.  She earned her GM title by beating some formidable male players, and now she can't do jack-crap against much lower rated players?  What'sup, chess femme?