2009 Women's Grand Prix Nanjing

Final standings: 1. Xu Yuhua g CHN 2485 8 2619 2. Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2535 7½ 2572 3. Zhao Xue g CHN 2542 7 2540 4. Sebag, Marie g FRA 2519 6½ 2505 5. Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2468 6½ 2510 6. Ju Wenjun CHN 2443 6½ 2512 7. Shen Yang wg CHN 2453 6 2482 8. Munguntuul, Batkhuyag wg MGL 2418 5½ 2450 9. Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2408 5 2415 10. Zhu Chen g QAT 2488 4½ 2378 11. Fierro Baquero, Martha L m ECU 2386 2 2191 12. Yildiz, Betul Cemre wm TUR 2224 1 2084 WIM Betul Yildiz scored her only point in a last round win against IM Martha Fierro.

2009 Women's Grand Prix Nanjing

Standings after R10 - 1 more round to go! 1. Xu Yuhua g CHN 2485 7½ 2629 2. Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2535 7 2578 3. Zhao Xue g CHN 2542 6½ 2539 4. Sebag, Marie g FRA 2519 6 2508 5. Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2468 6 2513 6. Munguntuul, Batkhuyag wg MGL 2418 5½ 2486 7. Shen Yang wg CHN 2453 5½ 2486 8. Ju Wenjun CHN 2443 5½ 2486 9. Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2408 4½ 2414 10. Zhu Chen g QAT 2488 4 2369 11. Fierro Baquero, Martha L m ECU 2386 2 2235 12. Yildiz, Betul Cemre wm TUR 2224 0

FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Standings after R9: 1. Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2535 6½ 2596 2. Xu Yuhua g CHN 2485 6½ 2605 3. Sebag, Marie g FRA 2519 6 2549 4. Zhao Xue g CHN 2542 5 2515 5. Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2468 5 2508 6. Munguntuul, Batkhuyag wg MGL 2418 5 2484 7. Shen Yang wg CHN 2453 4½ 2446 8. Ju Wenjun CHN 2443 4½ 2458 9. Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2408 4 2435 10. Zhu Chen g QAT 2488 4 2397 11. Fierro Baquero, Martha L m ECU 2386 2 2259 12. Yildiz, Betul Cemre wm TUR 2224 0

Women's Grand Prix Nanjing

Standings after Round 5: FIDE GP w Nanjing (CHN), 28 ix-9 x 2009 cat. VIII (2447) 1. Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2535 5 2700 2. Sebag, Marie g FRA 2519 4 2575 3. Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2468 3½ 2522 4. Xu Yuhua g CHN 2485 3½ 2524 5. Zhao Xue g CHN 2542 3½ 2483 6. Ju Wenjun CHN 2443 3 2452 7. Munguntuul, Batkhuyag wg MGL 2418 3 2429 8. Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2408 3 2412 9. Zhu Chen g QAT 2488 3 2424 10. Shen Yang wg CHN 2453 2½ 2412 11. Fierro Baquero, Martha L m ECU 2386 2 2345 12. Yildiz, Betul Cemre wm TUR 2224 0

Koneru Wins!

WOW! Way to go, Humpy, yeah! From the official website: In the last round of İstanbul Women Grand Prix, Humpy Koneru won against Marie Sebag while Hou Yifan faltered against Shen Yang. Elina Danielian scored an important victory and outplayed Xue Zhao to take the second spot. Martha Fierro won against Maia Chiburdanidze while Pia Cramling closed the tournament with a win against Antoaneta Stefanova. Zeinab Mamedyarova and Betül Cemre Yıldız drew. The leader changed for the third time and Humpy Koneru won İş Bank Atatürk FIDE Women Grand Prix with 8.5 out of 11. Elina Danielian took the second place with better tie-break having 8 points while Hou Yifan took the third place. Here are the final standings: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Res. SB. Koya 1 12 GM KONERU Humpy 2621 IND 8½ 0 43,50 4½ 2 7 IM DANIELIAN Elina 2496 ARM 8 ½ 40,25 4 3 4 GM HOU Yifan 2571 CHN 8 ½ 39,75 4 4 5 GM ZHAO Xue 2508 CHN 7½ 0 35,25 3½ 5 6 GM SEBAG Marie 2529 FRA 6 0 28,00 3 6 3 IM FIERRO Baquero Martha L. 2403 ECU 5½ 1 20,00 1 7 1 GM CRAMLING Pia 2548 SWE 5½ 0 22,75 1 8 11 GM STEFANOVA Antoaneta 2557 BUL 5 ½ 20,75 2 9 9 GM CHIBURDANIDZE Maia 2516 GEO 5 ½ 20,25 1½ 10 10 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab 2362 AZE 2½ 1 10,25 1 11 8 WGM SHEN Yang 2448 CHN 2½ 0 17,75 2 12 2 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2214 TUR 2 0 8,00 ½ See also the spare but insightful comments by GM Susan Polgar at her blog. Some interesting stories here - among them the failure of Stefanova, Cramling and Chiburdanidze. What happened? Stefanova can usually be counted upon to be among the front runners, but she lagged behind in this event from the start and never got any better. I can say pretty much the same for Pia Cramling, who earned her GM stripes around the same time that GM Susan Polgar earned hers! And what happened to Marie Sebag, who won her GM title playing in the 2008 European Individual Chess Championship ("Open")? She was lackluster in this event. Who lit that fire under Elina Danielian? GOOD to see her charging ahead in this tournament, wow. I've been covering women's chess for eight years and have seen her in tournament after tournament - sometimes the only woman playing. Always steady, usually out of the lime-light. Not this time! I'd be tempted to say this tournament represents the passing of the "old guard" (relatively speaking), but Danielian gives the lie to that theory! She has been playing very good chess but has been mostly under the radar. I consider Marie Sebag one of the "new guard" but she just didn't have it at this event. Who will be the top female player once Judit Polgar retires? The battle seems to be between Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan - maybe. Who knows what new female chess star will jump to the fore in the next couple of years?