FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2014 Khanty Masiysk

Hola darlings!  My last post for tonight.  This selling the house thing is INSANE!  It has consumed weeks and is yet to consume more weeks, because finally, the buyers have fully committed to purchasing after endless contractors tramping through or around the house (sometimes both); now the buyers have to procure a financing commitment, or the entire deal will once again teeter on the brink.  Meanwhile, I now once again have to pick up the house hunt in a market that has extremely slim pickings for me at the moment.  I should have known.  I should have chased the kids away with garlic and a mirror rather than agree to this!  Geez.

One of my chess favorites, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, did very well this event, digging herself out of a hole in this event, but it was won by GM Hou Yifan.  I continue to be impressed by WGM Olga Girya.  Look at her performance rating. 

I last left you off with the standings after R7.  Here are the final standings:

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	Res.	IRat-Ø	W	n	We	Rtg+/-	Ra	Rp
1	6	GM	Hou Yifan	2618	CHN	8½	0	2484	8,5	11	7,38	11	2484	2695
2	4	WGM	Girya Olga	2450	RUS	7	0	2500	7,0	11	4,75	23	2500	2602
3	12	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2527	RUS	6½	0	2493	6,5	11	5,99	5	2493	2558
4	10	GM	Lagno Kateryna	2543	UKR	6	½	2491	6,0	11	6,26	-3	2491	2527
5	5	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2560	SLO	6	½	2490	6,0	11	6,51	-5	2490	2526
6	9	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2550	GEO	5½	1	2491	5,5	11	6,37	-9	2491	2491
7	1	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2489	BUL	5½	0	2496	5,5	11	5,37	1	2496	2496
8	3	GM	Zhao Xue	2552	CHN	5	½	2490	5,0	11	6,38	-14	2490	2454
9	2	GM	Ushenina Anna	2501	UKR	5	½	2495	5,0	11	5,57	-6	2495	2459
10	11	WGM	Muminova Nafisa	2321	UZB	4	0	2511	4,0	11	2,84	17	2511	2409
11	7	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	2496	RUS	3½	½	2496	3,5	11	5,47	-20	2496	2363
12	8	WGM	Batchimeg Tuvshintugs	2340	MGL	3½	½	2510	3,5	11	3,11	6	2510	2377

How sad that while Russia is bullying Ukraine, a sovereign independent nation, chessplayers from Russia and Ukraine, who have known each other and played each other many times at these elite events because they are some of the best female players in the world, had to face each other over the board with such international tensions exploding in the headlines day after day.  Many of them are mothers as well as star chessplayers; these women belong to an elite sorority, so to speak, and share many bonds and similarities.  Too bad that the dream of chess cannot be realized in a world still controlled by silly men, one whom has a penchant for riding around with bare breasts.  Yuch!

Official website -- lots of photographs and round by round reports.