2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva

Hola darlings!

The final round was held today.  Here are the results, courtesy of The Week in Chess:

Round 11 (May 15, 2013)
Muzychuk, Anna	- Kosteniuk, Alexandra	½-½	29	B11	Caro Kann Two Knights
Ushenina, Anna	- Khotenashvili, Bela	½-½	40	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Ju, Wenjun	- Kosintseva, Tatiana	1-0	62	A00	Irregular Openings
Lagno, Kateryna	- Batchimeg, Tuvshintugs	½-½	50	A14	Reti Opening
Hou, Yifan	- Dzagnidze, Nana	0-1	58	B43	Sicilian Paulsen
Girya, Olga	- Cmilyte, Viktorija	0-1	38	A61	Benoni

And the final standings cross-table (from Chess-Results):

Final Ranking crosstable after 11 Rounds

Rk.			Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	GEO	*	½	0	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	1	8.0	0.0	7	39.75
2		GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	SLO	½	*	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	7.5	0.0	4	37.75
3		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	RUS	1	0	*	½	0	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	6.5	0.5	4	33.00
4		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	GEO	0	½	½	*	1	½	0	1	½	½	1	1	6.5	0.5	4	31.25
5		WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	CHN	0	½	1	0	*	1	½	½	0	½	1	1	6.0	1.0	4	29.25
6		GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	UKR	½	½	½	½	0	*	½	1	1	½	½	½	6.0	0.0	2	32.00
7		GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	UKR	0	½	0	1	½	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	5.5	0.0	3	27.25
8		GM	Yifan HOU	2617	CHN	1	0	½	0	½	0	1	*	½	1	0	½	5.0	0.5	3	27.75
9		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	RUS	0	½	½	½	1	0	0	½	*	½	1	½	5.0	0.5	2	25.50
10		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	LTU	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	4.5	0.0	1	22.00
11		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	MGL	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	1	0	½	*	½	3.5	0.0	1	17.25
12		WGM	Olga Girya	2463	RUS	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	*	2.0	0.0	0	9.75

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Direct Encounter (The results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break2: The greater number of victories
Tie Break3: Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break variable

 

And this table from The Week in Chess shows the performance ratings:

 

Geneva WGP 2013 Geneva SUI (SUI), 3-15 v 2013															cat. XI (2511)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Khotenashvili, Bela	m	GEO	2505	*	½	0	1	½	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	8	2686
2.	Muzychuk, Anna	g	SLO	2585	½	*	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	7½	2636
3.	Kosintseva, Tatiana	g	RUS	2517	1	0	*	½	½	0	1	½	½	1	½	1	6½	2574
4.	Dzagnidze, Nana	g	GEO	2545	0	½	½	*	½	1	0	1	½	½	1	1	6½	2572
5.	Ushenina, Anna	g	UKR	2491	½	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	½	½	½	6	2548
6.	Ju, Wenjun	wg	CHN	2544	0	½	1	0	1	*	½	½	0	½	1	1	6	2543
7.	Lagno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2548	0	½	0	1	½	½	*	0	1	½	½	1	5½	2507
8.	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2617	1	0	½	0	0	½	1	*	½	1	0	½	5	2464
9.	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2491	0	½	½	½	0	1	0	½	*	½	1	½	5	2476
10.	Cmilyte, Viktorija	g	LTU	2522	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	4½	2444
11.	Batchimeg, Tuvshintugs	wg	MGL	2298	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	1	0	½	*	½	3½	2396
12.	Girya, Olga	wg	RUS	2463	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	*	2	2252

Once again, the Georgian players show that their country's herstory of producing great female chessplayers is no fluke.  Holy Hathor, what performances by Khotenashvili (I confess I did not recognize her name prior to this tournament, or maybe I just wasn't paying sufficient attention!) and Dzagnidze. 

I was rooting for my favorites (Kosteniuk, Lahno/Lagno), but the Chess Goddess wasn't paying any attention to me this time around, alas.

Some commentary from the official website:

In the last round Georgian player Bela Khotenashvili managed to make a draw against Anna Ushenina and won the tournament. Her nearest rival Anna Muzychuk had to win the game in order to catch the leader but Slovenian player didn’t get anything out of the opening and drew against Alexandra Kosteniuk. “I’m very happy to win this tournament and consider this result as the best one in my career so far. I would like to thank Georgian chess federation, President of GCF Giya Giorgadze and our coach Davit Jojua for their help”, said Bela Khotenashvili at the final press conference.

It became clear today how tired all players are as they were making such mistakes which don’t appear in their games normally. Ukrainian player Katerina Lagno overlooked the piece blunder of her opponent Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, Hou Yifan missed winning chances in the endgame and lost the game against Nana Dzagnidze. Tatiana Kosintseva had a very good position after the opening but was spending a lot of time and lost against Ju Wenjun. Viktorija Cmilyte outplay Olga Girya. As a result, Nana Dzagnidze tied for the third place with Tatiana Kosintseva.
 
Muzychuk-Kosteniuk 1/2-1/2

Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich

It was an important game for Anna Muzychuk, as in case of victory she had a chance to catch Bela Khotenashvili. “If I could manage to get better position I would definitely play for win”, said Anna Muzychuk but I seems White didn’t get this opportunity during the game. Slovenian player didn’t expect Alexandra Kosteniuk to play Caro-Kann and Russian player managed to equalize the position quite easily. There was no way to improve the position for both sides and the game finished in a draw after 29 moves. Anna Muzychuk finished the tournament without losing any game.

Lagno–Batchimeg 1/2-1/2

Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich

Once again Mongolian player showed good opening preparation and didn’t get any problems with Black. Both players started to play unpredictably after 25 moves and for some time we had doubts in the press-center if there were problems with transmission or not. As it was proved at the press conference, Mongolian player simply blundered a piece by playing Ba4 but surprisingly Katerina Lagno didn’t take the bishop. As both players pointed out, they simply missed Na4! Katerina Lagno simply followed her plan Nc1-Ne2 and could not imagine that Black blundered a bishop. Black had advantage in the endgame but Katerina Lagno managed to transfer the position into the endgame with the opposite color bishops.

And how about this commentary about the Hou-Dzagnidze game!

 Hou-Dzagnidze 0-1

Nana Dzagnidze used to play 9…0-0 but feeling sleepy she mixed moves in the opening. White had slightly better position after the opening and Nana decided to sacrifice the exchange to complicate the game. “I think Black is just worse if I don’t do anything”, said Georgian player at the press conference. However, Hou Yifan managed to get absolutely winning position but had to play precisely as Nana was creating threats all the time. Black used his last chance - brought the king to the center and tried to advance e-pawn. Under the time pressure former world champion started to play inaccurately and even lost the game.

**************************************************************

According to the FIDE calendar for FIDE events, the next Women's Grand Prix is:

Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series

Dilijan, Armenia

15-Jun-2013

29-Jun-2013

But there is not yet an official website.

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva

Round 10 on 2013/05/14 at 14:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg			Name	Result		Name		Rtg	No.
1	12	2491		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	½ - ½	GM	Yifan HOU		2617	11
2	1	2545		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	1 - 0	WGM	Wenjun Ju		2544	10
3	2	2517		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	½ - ½	GM	Anna Ushenina		2491	9
4	3	2505		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	1 - 0	GM	Kateryna Lagno		2548	8
5	4	2298		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	½ - ½	WGM	Olga Girya		2463	7
6	5	2522		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	½ - ½	GM	Anna Muzychuk		2585	6

Ranking crosstable after Round 10

Rk.			Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	GEO	*	½	0	1		0	1	1	1	1	1	1	7.5	0.0	7	32.00
2		GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	SLO	½	*	1	½	½	1	½	½		½	1	1	7.0	0.0	4	32.50
3		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	RUS	1	0	*	½	½	½		1	½	1	½	1	6.5	0.0	4	29.75
4		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	GEO	0	½	½	*	½		1	0	½	½	1	1	5.5	0.5	3	23.50
5		GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	UKR		½	½	½	*	1	0	½	1	½	½	½	5.5	0.5	2	25.75
6		GM	Yifan HOU	2617	CHN	1	0	½		0	*	½	1	½	1	0	½	5.0	1.5	3	25.00
7		WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	CHN	0	½		0	1	½	*	½	0	½	1	1	5.0	1.0	3	20.75
8		GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	UKR	0	½	0	1	½	0	½	*	1	½		1	5.0	0.5	3	22.50
9		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	RUS	0		½	½	0	½	1	0	*	½	1	½	4.5	0.0	2	19.25
10		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	LTU	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½		3.5	0.0	0	17.75
11		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	MGL	0	0	½	0	½	1	0		0	½	*	½	3.0	0.0	1	13.75
12		WGM	Olga Girya	2463	RUS	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	½		½	*	2.0	0.0	0	9.00

From the official website:

In the tenth round of Neva Fondation Women Grand Prix Georgian player Bela Khotenashvili confidently won against Katerina Lagno and is half a point above of Anna Muzychuk, who made a draw against Viktorija Cmilyte. Tatiana Kosintseva drew against Anna Ushenina and remains on the third place before the last round. Nana Dzagnidze defeated Ju Wenjun and shares the fourth place with Anna Ushenina one point behind of Tatiana Kosintseva. Olga Girya and Tuvshintugs Batchimeg made a relatively quick draw while Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan played 6 hours to finish their game in a draw too.

Wow!  An epic battle between Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan!

Kosteniuk-Hou 1/2-1/2
A very complicated and the longest game of the round between two former world champions. After the opening Alexandra could not find the right plan and “was choosing strange moves”, as she pointed out during the press-conference. White lost a pawn but was hoping to get some counter chances due to the pair of bishops. Black missed some opportunities to get huge advantage and later on the players ended up in a very complicated endgame with unbalanced material (2 bishops, knight and 4 pawns against rook, bishop and 6 pawns). After 95 moves players signed a peace.

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva

Results and standings:

Round 9 on 2013/05/13 at 14:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	2522	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	½ - ½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	12
2	6	2585	GM	Anna Muzychuk	1 - 0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	4
3	7	2463	WGM	Olga Girya	0 - 1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	3
4	8	2548	GM	Kateryna Lagno	0 - 1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	2
5	9	2491	GM	Anna Ushenina	½ - ½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1
6	10	2544	WGM	Wenjun Ju	½ - ½	GM	Yifan HOU	2617	11

Ranking crosstable after Round 9

Rk.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	GEO	*	½	0	1			0	1	1	1	1	1	6.5	0.5	6	23.75
2	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	SLO	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	½			1	1	6.5	0.5	4	27.50
3	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	RUS	1	0	*		1		½	½	½	1	½	1	6.0	0.0	4	23.75
4	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	CHN	0	½		*	½	1	½		0	½	1	1	5.0	1.5	3	18.50
5	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	UKR		½	0	½	*	½	0	1	1	½		1	5.0	1.0	3	19.75
6	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	UKR		½		0	½	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	5.0	0.5	2	20.00
7	GM	Yifan HOU	2617	CHN	1	0	½	½	1	0	*			1	0	½	4.5	0.0	3	20.75
8	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	GEO	0	½	½		0	½		*	½	½	1	1	4.5	0.0	2	16.25
9	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	RUS	0		½	1	0	0		½	*	½	1	½	4.0	0.0	2	15.00
10	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	LTU	0		0	½	½	½	0	½	½	*	½		3.0	0.0	0	13.00
11	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	MGL	0	0	½	0		½	1	0	0	½	*		2.5	0.0	1	11.50
12	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	RUS	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½			*	1.5	0.0	0	6.75

Pairings for Round 10 tomorrow:

Round 10 on 2013/05/14 at 14:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	2491	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk		GM	Yifan HOU	2617	11
2	1	2545	GM	Nana Dzagnidze		WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	10
3	2	2517	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva		GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	9
4	3	2505	IM	Bela Khotenashvili		GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	8
5	4	2298	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg		WGM	Olga Girya	2463	7
6	5	2522	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte		GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	6

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva Rounds 7 and 8

Results of yesterday's matches:

Round 7 on 2013/05/10 at 14:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	0 - 1	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	12
5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	0 - 1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	3
6	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1 - 0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	2
7	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0 - 1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1
8	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0 - 1	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	11
9	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	0 - 1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	10

Results of today's matches:

Round 8 on 2013/05/11 at 14:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
12	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1 - 0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	10
11	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0 - 1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	9
1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0 - 1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	8
2	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1 - 0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	7
3	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½ - ½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	6
4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½ - ½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	5

Holy Hathor!  Kosteniuk making a late move, winning her second game in a row!  Hou Yifan losing to Ushenina (?)!  Other than in events where primarily male players were participating, when has Hou ever lost 3 games in an event?  Lahno defeating Dzagnidze with the black pieces!  What's going on in Geneva?  More importantly, what's in the water - and can I get some of that here in Milwaukee?

Standings after Round 8:

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts	Res.	vict
1	3	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	GEO	*	½		0	1		0	1	1	1	1		5½	½	5
2	6	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	SLO	½	*	½	1	½	½	1	½				1	5½	½	3
3	8	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	UKR		½	*		½	½	0	1	1		½	1	5	0	3
4	2	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	RUS	1	0		*			½	½	½	½	1	1	5	0	3
5	10	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	CHN	0	½	½		*	1			0	1	½	1	4½	1	3
6	9	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	UKR		½	½		0	*	1		1	½	½	½	4½	0	2
7	11	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	CHN	1	0	1	½		0	*			0	1	½	4	0	3
8	1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	GEO	0	½	0	½				*	½	1	½	1	4	0	2
9	12	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	RUS	0		0	½	1	0		½	*	1		½	3½	0	2
10	4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	MGL	0			½	0	½	1	0	0	*	½		2½	½	1
11	5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	LTU	0		½	0	½	½	0	½		½	*		2½	½	0
12	7	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	RUS		0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½			*	1½	0	0

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix Geneva: Round 8 Hou Yivan v. Anna Ushenina.

May 12th is a much needed rest day before the final two rounds. 

The only player left who has not suffered a loss thus far is Anna Muzychuk.  This is a gem of a tournament, to my way of thinking.  No one is running away with it (although, in the tradition of other fabulous Georgian chessplayers, Khotenashvili is looking more and more solid as the tournament goes on), and several "upsets."  Wish I could play a tenth as well, but darlings, I'm hopeless.  Last night I resigned a game before move 12 (with the black pieces) when I was checked with a knight on the back row and would lose a rook next move.  Hopeless.  I'm hopeless. 

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva

Some extremely interesting developments in this Grand Prix.  Hou Yifan standing currently in 7th place?  And Cmilyte and Kosteniuk in 10th and 11th places?  But, there is a lot of chess left to lay - 5 more games!  Here are the standings after Round 6:

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	RUS	2517	4.0	1.0	2	10.75
2	GM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2585	4.0	0.5	2	11.50
3	GM	Kateryna Lagno	UKR	2548	4.0	0.5	2	9.50
4	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	GEO	2505	4.0	0.0	4	10.00
5	WGM	Wenjun Ju	CHN	2544	3.5	0.0	2	8.50
6	GM	Anna Ushenina	UKR	2491	3.5	0.0	1	8.25
7	GM	Yifan HOU	CHN	2617	3.0	0.0	2	8.75
8	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	GEO	2545	3.0	0.0	1	7.75
9	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	MGL	2298	2.0	0.0	1	6.75
10	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	LTU	2522	2.0	0.0	0	7.00
11	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	RUS	2491	1.5	0.5	0	4.25
12	WGM	Olga Girya	RUS	2463	1.5	0.5	0	4.00

Round 6 action from the official website:

Tatiana Kosintseva and Bela Khotenashvili outplayed Viktorija Cmilyte and Batchimeg Tuvshintugs respectively and joined the group of leaders. Katerina Lagno and Anna Muzychuk finished their games in draws and also share the first place with 4 out of 6. After 5 draws in the previous rounds World Champion Anna Ushenina won the first game in the tournament and is half a point behind of the leaders. Her opponent Alexandra Kosteniuk lost the third game in a row. Olga Girya played very confidently against former world champion Hou Yifan and made a draw after 70 moves. (I wonder if GM Maurice Ashley has seen this game...see my comments in the post below about Game 6 in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship. Note also that there have been other long drawn out games among the players in Geneva, and no one seems to implied that any of the players should have resigned when it appeared she was in a losing position and not doing so was a sign of "disrespect" for the opponent!)

Round 5 action from the official website:

The key game of the round five was the encounter between number one and number two in the tournament Hou Yifan and Anna Muzychuk. Slovenian player outplayed Hou Yifan and shares the first place with Ukrainian Katerina Lagno who drew her game against Anna Ushenina. Two Russian players Alexandra Kosteniuk and Olga Girya lost their games against Bela Khotenashvili and Ju Wenjun respectively. Another Russian Tatiana Kosintseva had winning position against Tuvshintugs Batchimeg but missed her chances a few times today. Viktorija Cmilyte and Nana Dzagnidze were the last to finish their game in a draw after 72 moves.

Not unexpectedly, Muzychuk's game with Hou Yifan was the game of the day in R5 and extensively analyzed by GM Mikhal Chishin. 

Here are the pairings for Round 7 tomorrow:

SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	-	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	12
5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	-	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	3
6	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	-	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	2
7	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	-	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1
8	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	-	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	11
9	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	-	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	10

2013 FIDE Women's Grand Prix: Geneva

Going on right now, May 3 - 15, 2013.  Website. 

Let me tell you, if half the male chessplayers in the world were as attractive as this group of ladies, chess would turn instantly into a spectator sport with a majority of female fans :)  I am not so sure of the identities of some of the ladies just from visual, but I'll take a crack at naming this line-up, from L to R: Anna Muzychuk, Viktorija Cmilyte, Hou Yifan sans glasses (looks cute without them), not sure, Anna Ushenina, Fearless Leader Who Speaketh With Aliens, not sure but she resembles Kim Cattrall(!), the always lovely Alexandra Kosteniuk, Nana Dzagnidze(?), Kateryna Lahno, Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, Ju Wenjun, not sure, and Tatiana Kosintseva. 

Standings after R4:

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts	Res.	vict
1	8	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	UKR	*			½						½	1	1	3	0	2
2	11	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	CHN		*	½		1				0	1			2½	0	2
3	2	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	RUS		½	*		1	½					½		2½	0	1
4	6	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	SLO	½			*			½	½				1	2½	0	1
5	3	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	GEO		0	0		*	1	1						2	0	2
6	1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	GEO			½		0	*			1		½		2	0	1
	10	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	CHN				½	0		*		1	½			2	0	1
8	9	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	UKR				½				*	½	½		½	2	0	0
9	4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	MGL		1				0	0	½	*				1½	0	1
10	5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	LTU	½	0					½	½		*			1½	0	0
11	12	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	RUS	0		½			½					*	½	1½	0	0
12	7	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	RUS	0			0				½			½	*	1	0	0

This is a stellar line-up and includes a few "surprise" players (Batchimeg and Girya) who can be dangerous in their own right. 

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (W) lost her R4 game yesterday to GM Kateryna Lahno (B) and that win put Lahno into clear first place.

In R3, Hou Yifan proved she's not a robot after all and got "spanked" by Mama Hou for dropping a game to the much lower rated Tuvshintugs Batchimeg.  Their game was the featured "Game of the Day" for R3, with extensive analysis.

In R4, Hou Yifan rebounded to defeat Viktorija Cmilyte, but not without some difficulty.  I found this comment by the GM providing analysis for the tournament,  Adrian Mikhalchishin, interesting:  Viktoria used the same approach, playing the former World Champion, as I taught my pupil Betul Yildiz in the last few years. It is simple -Hou Yifan is fantastic, a fine technical player, and the only way to play successfully against her is to challenge her from the start. It means to attack as soon as possible, hmm, but it is tremendousely difficult. You have to show her ,that you are not afraid of her.
 
I can't imagine Cmilyte being afraid of any player, but it's good advice nonetheless. 

Here are the match-ups for today's round:

Round 5 on 2013/05/08 at 14:00
SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
3	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	-	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	12
4	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	-	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	2
5	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	-	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1
6	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	-	GM	Yifan Hou	2617	11
7	WGM	Olga Girya	2463	-	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	10
8	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	-	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	9

Some strong pairings, well-matched pairings for this round.  Should be interesting!