FIDE Chess GP Chengdu 2016 - Harika Won Round 2

Sebagai lembaga pengayom percaturan dunia di planet bumi, FIDE musti mengorganisir berbagai kegiatan dan perlombaan catur. Salah satu dari program turnamen catur yang konsisten berhasil digelar FIDE adalah yang namanya seri Grand Prix catur. Seri GP ini berlangsung untuk kategori open (baca kaum lelaki) dan kategori Women. Dalam minggu ini, FIDE Women Grand Prix akan dan sedang berlangsung di kota Cheng Du negara China. GP Chengdu 2016 ini berlangsung dari tanggal 1 Juli hingga 15 Juli 2016 dengan 12 pecatur wanita saling terkam terkaman di kota eksotis Chengdu.
Secara keseluruhan seri Women Grand Prix FIDE ini telah mencapai klasemen sebagai berikut, hasil dari beberapa GP sebelumnya di kota Monte Carlo, Teheran dan Batumi :

Sebanyak 12 pecatur wanita bertanding di kota Chengdu. Hingga round 2, pecatur dari India Harika Dronavalli menggugurkan dua lawannya di round 1 dan round 2 untuk mengklaim posisi pertama klasemen sementara. Harika dikenal sebagai pecatur yang ulet dan giat, selalu teliti dan detail mempertahankan posisinya. Kiranya sekarang dunia mulai merasakan stylenya yang solid ini dan tiba waktunya Harika untuk unjuk gigi pada rekan-rekannya baik dari India, China maupun Russia.

Chengdu sendiri merupakan kota besar di China bagian tengah, ibukota dari provinsi Sichuan. Dengan jumlah penduduk yang "hanya" 14 jutaan, Chengdu membangun image kotanya sebagai kota catur yang cukup kuat. Chengdu juga merupakan tuan rumah pargelaran 2015 World Women Chess Championship.

Berikut dua partai catur Harika yang dimenangkan baik dengan buah hitam dan putih.

Partai Catur Tan Zhongyi vs Harika Dronavalli 0-1, Chengdu 2016


Partai Catur Harika Dronavalli vs Javakhishvili, Lela 1-0, Chengdu 2016


Grand Prix Chengdu ini bisa diakses info nya dari website resmi http://chengdu2016.fide.com/en/main-page.

GP Chengdu 2016 standings after round 2:

1 Harika, Dronavalli 2
2 Koneru, Humpy 1.5
3 Khotenashvili, Bela  1
Girya, Olga 1
Muzychuk, Mariya 1
Stefanova, Antoaneta 1
Cramling, Pia 1
Ju, Wenjun 1
Muzychuk, Anna 1
10 Javakhishvili, Lela 0.5
Tan, Zhongyi 0.5
Zhao, Xue 0.5

Para pecatur yang bertanding di Chengdu 2016

penampakan Harika Dronavalli di round 1

salah seorang rekan se-India nya Harika adalah Koneru Humpy, yang merupakan pecatur wanita sangat kuat no.2 di dunia saat ini. Koneru memenangkan partai di round 2 juga

Update dari medsos dari pecatur di Chengdu :

Glimpes from today's drawing,(our numbers),at #Chengdu #FIDE Women's Grand Prix. #chess #wearehere #Hyderabad #India pic.twitter.com/ZyHY2gq1MQ

— Harika Dronavalli (@HarikaDronavali) July 1, 2016

Ju Wenjun on her Facebook regarding GP Chengdu 2016

Hou Yifan Juara Catur Women's World Champion 2016

Dwitarung memperebutkan juara catur wanita antara juara Mariya Muzychuk dan penantangnya Hou Yifan berakhir di round 9. Dengan posisi score Hou Yifan unggul 5-3, memasuki babak ke-9 ini, Mariya Muzychuk masuk ke partai must-win sambil memegang buah hitam pula. Dengan pembelaan Sisilia yang diharapkan bisa lebih tajam, Mariya menggunakan serangan variasi Boleslavsky 6..e5. Keduanya bertarung di middlegame yang cukup kompleks namun akhirnya hitam harus menyerah di langkah 46.

Hou Yifan berhasil merebut kembali gelar juara dunia wanita. Sebagai pecatur wanita dengan rating tertinggi di dunia saat ini, dominasi Hou Yifan memang sulit digoyahkan. Bisa dipastikan tidak banyak pecatur wanita yang bisa menyentuhnya untuk beberapa tahun mendatang. Duel dengan Mariya Muzychuk ini adalah duel ketiga Hou Yifan yang perlu sampai main di babak ke-9. Sebelumnya melawan Koneru Humpy di tahun 2011 (kota Tirana, Algeria), Hou Yifan mengakhiri duel di ronde 8 dengan score 5.5-2.5. Di tahun 2013 melawan Anna Ushenina (kota Taizhou China) Hou Yifan hanya perlu 7 ronde dengan score 5.5-1.5. Di tiga duel catur tersebut, Hou Yifan tidak terkalahkan.

Partai catur Hou Yifan vs Mariya Muzychuk 1-0, Round 9 Lviv 2016


Hou Yifan re-gain her world champion title by defeating Mariya Muzychuk in a match 6-3. The match that happening in Lviv ended in round 9 with Hou Yifan victory in Sicilian defence games. This is the first match for Hou Yifan that required her to play up to round 9. All her previous match against Koneru Humpy (2011) last in round 8 with score 5.5-2.5. In 2013 Hou Yifan even quicker, only up to round 7 against Anna Ushenina with score 5.5-1.5.



Final score Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifna 2016 Lviv.

Hou Yifan is 2016 Women Chess Champion, her  win over Mariya Muzychuk in round 9 set the title

Photo from official website

Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan, and their round by round fashion

Photo from official website

Dwi tarung akan digelar sebanyak 10 babak, dari tanggal 3 Maret hingga 18 Maret, jika nilai akhir masih sama akan dilangsungkan tie break catur cepat. Jadwal duel Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan di Lviv 2016 adalah :

Game 1  Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 2  Hou vs Muzychuk 1-0
rest day
Game 3 Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 4  Hou vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
rest day
Game 5  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Game 6  Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 0-1
rest day
Game 7  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Game 8  Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 1/2-1/2
rest day
Game 9  Hou Yifan vs Mariya Muzychuk 1-0
rest day
Game 10  March 16
rest day
Tiebreaks (if needed)  March 18

Dwi tarung ini bisa disaksikan LIVE di website ini.

Hou Yifan Menang Round 2 vs Mariya Muzychuk - Dwitarung Juara Catur Wanita 2016

Memasuki round 2 dwi tarung Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan match yang memperebutkan gelar juara catur wanita 2016, Hou Yifan menang dan leading dengan score 1.5-0.5.
Hou Yifan strikes for first point after demolishing Mariya Muzychuk in Ruy Lopez battle, 1.5-0.5 for the Chinese challenger. 

Di duel kedua ini, Hou Yifan dan Mariya masuk ke permainan Ruy Lopez Open / Terbuka. Setelah manuver hingga middlegames, Mariya Muzychuk mulai terkepung oleh perwira putih kepunyaan Hou Yifan dan melakukan blunder parah di langkah 27. Alhasil Hou Yifan bisa melancarkan beberapa taktik catur maut ke posisi raja hitam dan menang. Hou Yifan sang penantang juara dunia memang sudah diprediksi akan mendominasi duel catur ini membuktikan  keunggulannya bukan cuma di rating saja. Dengan ketertinggalan ini Mariya Muzychuk , sang juara dunia asal Ukraine harus berjuang keras menyamakan kedudukan. Besok adalah rest day dan round 3 dilanjutkan hari Sabtu March 5 2016.

Partai Catur Dunia Wanita Hou Yifan vs Mariya Muzychuk 1-0, Lviv 2016
Ruy Lopez C80

Second round of  Hou Yifan vs Mariya Muzychuk match, 1-0 for the Chinese challenger.

Playing venue is a bit too intimate for the level of world title match, usually the table put in the middle of podium instead of just beside the wall.

photo by Vitaly Hrabar from official website

kedua pecatur cantik Hou Yifan dan Mariya Muzychuk siap-siap bertarung, round 1

photo by Vitaly Hrabar from official website

Dwi tarung akan digelar sebanyak 10 babak, dari tanggal 3 Maret hingga 18 Maret, jika nilai akhir masih sama akan dilangsungkan tie break catur cepat. Jadwal duel Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan di Lviv 2016 adalah :

LIHAT LIPUTANNYA :
Game 1  Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 2  Hou vs Muzychuk 1-0
rest day
Game 3 Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 4  Hou vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
rest day
Game 5  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Game 6  Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 0-1
rest day
Game 7  March 11
Game 8  March 12
rest day
Game 9  March 14
rest day
Game 10  March 16
rest day
Tiebreaks (if needed)  March 18

Dwi tarung ini bisa disaksikan LIVE di website ini.

Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan - Rd 1 Partai Juara Dunia Catur Wanita

Awal bulan Maret 2016 ditandai dengan clash antar juara dunia catur wanita di kota Lviv, Ukraine. Ini adalah event dwitarung catur memperebutkan gelar juara dunia catur wanita FIDE tahun 2016. Juara bertahan adalah pecatur cantik dari Ukraina GM Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya menjadi juara dunia setelah merebutnya di even Piala Dunia catur wanita tahun lalu. Sementara itu, mantan juara dunia wanita Hou Yifan justru tampil sebagai penantang. Seperti kita tahu, dengan rating Hou Yifan di angka 2667, gadis Tiongkok ini jauh mengungguli Mariya yang "cuma" berating 2563. Dengan kata lain, favorit duel catur ini bisa dipastikan dipegang Hou Yifan. Banyak juga penggemar catur berharap Mariya bisa setidaknya meladeni Hou Yifan sekuatnya. Hal ini dikarenakan duel catur Hou Yifan sebelumnya melawan Anna Ushenina terbukti terlalu berat sebelah.

Di partai pertama yang dilangsungkan kemarin malam, Mariya memegang buah putih dan memainkan 1.e4, kemudian partai masuk ke pembukaan Italia, (Italian Game). Hou Yifan membuat surprise si Mariya Muzychuk dengan jawaban 1.e4 e5! dikarenakan Hou Yifan jarang banget main langkah ini sepanjang karirnya. Sepanjang pertandingan keduanya cukup seimbang dengan Hou Yifan menjawab semua tantangan putih dengan langkah akurat dan teoritis. Kedua pemain bersalaman remis setelah 31 langkah.

Berikut partai round 1 Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 1/2-1/2, Lviv, Women's World Chess Championship (2016)  Giuoco Piano (C50)

Hou Yifan equalized easily in the first round of Women's World Championship 2016 against Mariya Muzychuk in Lviv.

Dwi tarung akan digelar sebanyak 10 babak, dari tanggal 3 Maret hingga 18 Maret, jika nilai akhir masih sama akan dilangsungkan tie break catur cepat. Jadwal duel Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan di Lviv 2016 adalah :

Game 1  Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 2  Hou vs Muzychuk 1-0
rest day
Game 3 Muzychuk(W) v Hou(B) 1/2-1/2
Game 4  Hou vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
rest day
Game 5  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Game 6  Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 0-1
rest day
Game 7  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Game 8  Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 1/2-1/2
rest day
Game 9  Hou Yifan vs Muzychuk 1-0
rest day
Game 10  March 16
rest day
Tiebreaks (if needed)  March 18

Dwi tarung ini bisa disaksikan LIVE di website ini.

Hou Yifan Juara Catur FIDE GP Monte Carlo 2015

Di belahan lain pecaturan dunia kaum wanita, para srikandi sakti ini saling panah-panahan di turnamen Grand Prix catur di Monte Carlo, Monaco. GP yang digelar FIDE ini adalah yang pertama untuk seri baru tahun 2015-2016. Sebanyak 12 pecatur wanita dunia dihadirkan dan saling tarung di kasino Monte Carlo negara kerajaan Monaco dari tanggal 2 - 16 October 2015. Hou Yifan lagi-lagi tampil sebagai juara pertama disusulkan juara dunia terkini Mariya Muzychuk dan pecatur terkuat no.2 dunia dari segi elo rating, Koneru Humpy di posisi ke 3. Hou Yifan menggungguli kelas dengan selisih 2 poin dari Mariya Muzychuk, cukup untuk menunjukkan supremasinya.

Berikut partai catur yang ditunggu-tunggu antara Hou Yifan bertemu dengan Mariya Muzychuk. Hou Yifan punya hak untuk saling tarung memperebutkan gelar dunia catur wanita yang sedang disanding Mariya Muzychuk. Hou Yifan adalah pemenang putaran grand prix sebelumnya (dan dua lagi sebelumnya alias Hou Yifan menang terus....). Jadwal dan lokasi duel catur dunia wanita adalah tahun depan di kota Lviv negara Ukrainia.

Hou Yifan continued her supremacy in women chess nowday, winning FIDE GP Monte  Carlo / Monaco with full 2 points ahead her competitor. She defeated reign women champion Mariya Muzychuk in easy Sicilian game. 

As seen from official website photo, her choice of fashion also intriguing 

Partai catur Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan 0-1, GP Monaco 2015


Rank Players FIDE Women GP 2015-2016 , and also Monaco's final standings:
Peringkat Akhir Grand Prix Monte Carlo Monaco dan juga peringkat sementara GP FIDE 2015-2016:

1 Hou Yifan 160
2 Mariya Muzychuk 120
3 Humpy Koneru 120
4 Pia Cramling 85
5 Natalija Pogonina 85
6 Alexandra Kosteniuk 65
7 Antanoeta Stefanova 65
8 Nana Dzagnidze 50
9 Anna Muzychuk 30
10 Natalia Zhukova 30
11 Almira Skripchenko 30
12 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh 10

Selanjutnya FIDE Grand Prix akan dilanjutkan ke kota Kish (Iran), Tblisi (Georgia) dan Chengdu (China) tahun depan.

Para pecatur GP Monaco jalan-jalan ke gedung Opera di hari istirahat

Medina Aulia in Chess For Girls 2015 - Won by WGM Gunay Mammadzada

Pecatur Medina Aulia Warda yang turut serta dalam program Chess For Girls akhirnya menuntaskan kehadirannya dengan menduduki peringkat ke-5 di tournament tersebut. Ajang Chess For Girls 2015 ini memang sangat luar biasa ceritanya. Ibarat kisah-kisah silat yang sering kita baca, seorang pelatih catur dunia mencari 10 bibit talenta pecatur wanita di seluruh dunia. Kesepuluh pecatur tersebut lalu diundang gratis ke "laboratorium" untuk digembleng secara intensif dengan pelajaran-pelajaran catur. WGM / IM-elected Aulia Warda adalah salah satu dari 10 pecatur yang terpilih. Ajang Chess For Girls 2015 kali ini berlangsung di kota Vienna, Austria. Sebelumnya beberapa kota sudah menjadi tempat berkumpul dan berlatih mereka, yaitu kota Geneva (Swiss) dan Saigon (Vietnam).

Di ajang Chess for Girls 2015 ini juga selain dilakukan pelatihan catur oleh Susan Polgar, juga diselenggarakan turnamen-turnamen, yaitu turnamen Problem Solving, Blitz dan yang paling puncak adalah sembilan rounds turnamen round robin antara kesepuluh pecatur tersebut. Di turnamen puncak tersebut mereka dihadiahi 2,000 euros jika menang. WGM Gunay Mammadzada asal Azerbaijan akhirnya keluar sebagai pemenang. Aulia Warda sendiri ada di peringkat 5 dengan point 4.5/9. Menurut crosstable yang dirilis di sini, Medina mengalahkan IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat (Iran), WFM Anastasia Bykova (Rusia), WFM Gazikova Veronika (Slovakia) dan WIM Tijana Blagojevic (Montenegro).

Perlu juga diketahui juga, IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar akan segera masuk ke kampus Webster untuk tahun ajaran baru. Universitas Webster ini memang kampus yang paling banyak mahasiswa pecatur dunia, seperti GM Le Quang Liem dan lain-lain. Dengan demikian kedua pecatur wanita top Indonesia sekarang sudah menjadi perhatian dunia dan diharapkan banyak lagi prestasi-prestasi keren yang akan dipersembahkan keduanya.

Official website di https://chessdailynews.com/tag/chess-for-girls/
Google Translate HERE

 Indonesian chess fans are happy to follow that IM-elected Medina Aulia Warda, the nation's top girl become part of this event.  The brief description about this event is well explained here :

Chess For Girls Vienna 2015 – World’s Strongest All-Girls Invitational
By Paul Truong

The event is sponsored by FIDE (FIDE Women’s Commission), Webster University – SPICE, and the Susan Polgar Foundation, with support from the Austrian Chess Federation, Vienna Chess Federation and hosted by Webster University Vienna.

We invited the top 10 highest rated girls in the world (1 per country limit) to Webster University – Vienna Campus for a 4-day intense training. After the training, they will compete against each other in a round robin tournament for the top prize of 2,000 euros.

We cover all hotel (4-star) expenses and meals + 6,050 euros (2,000-1,250-750-500-400-300-250-200-200-200) total cash prizes for the 10 participants.

We also invited the top 2 players from Austria (as the host nation) for training. They will go through the full training sessions but will not participate in the tournament.

The first edition of FIDE Chess For Girls was held at Webster University – Geneva Campus, and the second one was held in Saigon, Vietnam. This is the 3rd one. (from https://chessdailynews.com/tag/chess-for-girls/) 

The ten young talents were then compete each other in numbers of contests, PROBLEM SOLVING, BLITZ CHESS, and the top contest is the 9 rounds robin tournament:

The results:

Final standings - Chess For Girls 2015
1. WGM Mammadzada Gunay AZE 8.0
2-3. IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat IRI 6.0
2-3. WGM Abdumalik Zhansaya KAZ 6.0
4. IM Ziaziulkina Nastassia BLR 5.5
5. WGM Medina Aulia INA 4.5
6-7. WFM Osmak Iulija UKR 4.0
6-7. WGM Davaademberel Nomin-Erdene MGL 4.0
8. WFM Bykova Anastasia RUS 3.5
9. WFM Gazikova Veronika SVK 2.5
10. WIM Blagojevic Tijana MNE 2210 1.0

Top 3 – Chess for Girls Puzzle Solving Championship
Three way tie for 1st :
Ziaziulkina, Nastassia (Belarus) 2431,
Osmak, Julia (Ukraine) 2412,
Exler, Veronika (Austria) 2200 with 9.5 pts/10

Final standings – Chess for Girls Blitz Championship
1. Khademalsharieh, Sara (Iran) 2412 9.5 pts / 11
2. Bykova, Anastasia (Russia) 2337 8.5
3. Abdumalik , Zhansaya (Kazakhstan) 2411 7.5
4-5 Blagojevic, Tijana (Montenegro) 2338 & Gazikova, Veronika (Slovakia) 2314 6.0
6-7 Medina, Aulia (Indonesia) 2412 & Newrkla, Katharina (Austria) 2200 5.5
8. Osmak, Julia (Ukraine) 2412 5.0
9. Exler, Veronika (Austria) 2200 4.5
10. Mammadzada, Gunay (Azerbaijan) 2336 3.0
11-12 Ziaziulkina, Nastassia (Belarus) 2431 & Davaademberel, Nomin-Erdene (Mongolia) 2371 2.5

Chess For Girls 2015 in Vienna 

(all photos from website)

Indonesia top player, IM-elected Medina Aulia among the ten Chess for Girl participant

on other news, IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar will soon join Webster University in USA, good luck!

Mariya Muzychuk Is Woman Chess Champion

(bahasa Indonesia di bawah)
Finally, the final round of 2015 Women's World Chess Championship is over at Sochi. After four rounds, Mariya Muzychuk defeated Natalia Pogonina by the score 2.5-1.5. Although Mariya only won the second game, but all remaining three games were hard fought draw where Mariya mostly on the upper hand and Natalia needs to defend with all her might. Mariya Muzychuk will go down on history as the 15th Women Chess Champion. She is the official women champion for now, until the realization on the match between she and challenger Hou Yifan. Hou qualified for the status of challenger way before this Sochi event by winning FIDE Women's grand prix.

Though Mariya's success did surprise most of people, she has her premonition indeed...

– Did you sense before the championship that you have a shot at winning it? Did you bring a dress for the closing ceremony?

– This is actually a very interesting story. It all started with me packing at home. My sister asked: “Are you planning to be there for a long time?” And I said yes. Then she asked: “Are you taking your dress for the opening ceremony?” And I said: “No, I take it for the closing ceremony!”

source Mariya's interview

Final round - game 4, Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalija Pogonina 1/2-1/2

we got new world champion, IM Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine

Natalija Pogonina in defending side, despite up a rook but the ending is favor to white

last minute on the final round, Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalija Pogonina

Mariya Muzychuk Juara Dunia Wanita Catur 2015

Setelah melalui enam ronde, belasan hari bertanding catur, akhirnya Mariya Muzychuk dari Ukraina memenangkan gelar juara dunia catur wanita di kota Sochi. Kejuaraan Catur Wanita Dunia tahun 2015 ini memang digelar khusus untuk mencari juara dunia catur wanita terbaru. Di babak final, Mariya Muzychuk dihadapkan dengan pecatur wanita dari Russia, Natalia Pogonina. Keduanya berhasil mencapai final dengan masing-masing mengalahkan pecatur-pecatur unggulan di ronde sebelumnya. Mariya Muzychuk berhasil menggebuk pecatur unggulan pertama Koneru Humpy di perempat final, dan lalu pecatur Harika Dronavalli, keduanya dari India. Sedangkan, Natalia Pogonina berhasil meredam laju pecatur unggulan kedua dari China, Ju Wenjun, jauh di ronde dua.

Natalia Pogonina sendiri mencapai babak final dengan penuh perjuangan. Dalam tiga ronde terakhirnya, dia selalu tertinggal duluan. Melawan Marie Sebag, Zhao Xue dan Pia Cramling, Natalia musti berjuang keras karena di semua partai catur tersebut, Natalia ketinggalan 1-0 terlebih dahulu. Berkat keuletan Natalia yang selalu berhasil membalikkan keadaan, dia kemudian dijuluki "the Comeback Queen".

Mariya Muzychuk sendiri cukup lancar mencapai final. Sepanjang turnamen, Mariya memperlihatkan skill taktik nya yang luar biasa. Hampir semua partainya diwarnai taktik-taktik tajam. Pembukaan Scotch (landia) menjadi andalannya. Mariya adalah adik dari grandmaster Anna Muzychuk, yang sebelumnya sudah gugur duluan.

Mariya Muzychuk menjadi juara dunia setelah mengalahkan Natalia Pogonina 2.5-1.5 di round final. Mariya menang di game kedua dan remis semua. Mariya adalah juara catur wanita ke-15. Dia akan diperhadapkan dengan Hou Yifan dari China. Hou Yifan adalah sebenarnya juara catur sebelumnya namun tidak ikutan main di Sochi. Hou akan berhak menantang Mariya dari hasil tiket juara Grand Prix wanita sebelumnya. Partai Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan direncanakan dilaksanakan musim gugur mendatang.

Turnamen ini diikuti pecatur Indonesia, IM Irine Kharisma Sukandar, namun Irine gugur di babak pertama melawan Melia Salome dari Georgia.

Partai Catur Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalija Pogonina, 1-0 - Round 6.2 Sochi 2015
Ruy Lopez, Breyer variation

Partai Catur Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalija Pogonina 1/2-1/2 - Round 6.4 Sochi 2015
Scotch Four Knights Defence

Women's Chess 2015 - Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalia Pogonina

Women's Chess Championship in Sochi 2015 has reach its final round. Out of 64 women and girls, two has survive the knock out: Mariya Muzychuk and Natalia Pogonina. Before jumping to the pairings commentary, here is how they manage to survive the semifinals, which as usual, dramatic to the very last minutes.

Natalia Pogonina vs Pia Cramling 2.5-1.5, Semifinal 
Let first went into Pia Cramling vs Natalia Pogonina stories. The highlight is Natalia once again  crowned herself as the "Come Back Queen". This is her third time winning a "must win game" when she lost the first game against Pia. This time Natalija got white in the second semifinal classic games and Pia went into some strange Sicilian line to defend her lead. Pia failed and thus Natalia cheer the fans by third time saving herself from being eliminated.

In the rapid tie break games between Natalia and Pia, the first one done without much drama. The second one it is. Once again, Pia choose her double edge Sicilian defence and soon Natalia found her way to exploit it also. In completely winning endgame, Natalia should able to finish the game quicker, yet her exposed king is hardly can avoid abused from Pia's pieces. The game need to undergo 118 moves before its finish. Natalia went to the World Championship final by three times came back from losses. Thus also ended Pia Cramling great tournament, she defeated Valentina Gunina and Anna Muzychuk. Noted that Pia Cramling was probably in her thirties when she "must" witness the rise of Judit Polgar and her sisters in the '90s.

position after 13..Nd7, that eventually lead to..

completely winning endgame for Natalia, yet the exposed king provide enough playground for Pia Cramling's bishop and rook to abused it up to 118 moves

haha .... I'm in the semi finals... Pia Cramling happily resign her success story in Sochi 2015

Natalia Pogonina vs Pia Cramling 1-0, WCC Sochi 2015, Round 5.4


Mariya Muzychuk vs Harika Dronavalli

Mariya and Harika draw her two classical games, thus the tie break become their girly meeting last night. The first rapid went successfully for Mariya. Who when came to tactical battle, she is on top of Harika most of time.

the first rapid game Harika vs Mariya in Reti meet Dutch opening, 1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.b3 g6 4.Bb2 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O, later ended up with this position ...

and Mariya manage to converted her tactical idea into full point, 0-1 as Harika resigned here

Harika in her Yoga chess stance ... still not enough to push her luck 

Photos: Anastasia Karlovich (sochi2015.fide.com)

In the second rapid game, Mariya was able to throw some nice tactic to busted Harika's Modern defence. Yet in crucial moment, Mariya didn't find the best continuation and allow Harika back in the game, press and win the second rapid.

black to move and can get a huge advantage by 38..Bxg2! 39.Nxg2 Qe2! , yet Harika did not find it in minutes time, the game still prolonged many moves before Harika able to won this position

Thus Mariya and Harika continued to the 2x10 minutes semi-blitz rounds. Here some of the most dramatic moment in WCC Sochi happened. In the first 10 minutes game, Mariya played the Dutch defence and able to equalize most of the time. She then try to made thing not equal by voluntarily gives up the h pawn in this position...

Black can choose to made everything dry by simple 44..Qf7, yet Mariya played 44..Kh6 which lead to losing h pawn in four moves 

then when Harika got completely winning endgame, Harika goes haywire in this position...

white just blunder by 83.Qe3?? .... black hold the position afterward easily. Mariya said "..is this really my happy day?"

Harika Dronavalli vs Mariya Muzychuk 1/2-1/2, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 5.5



The last 10 minutes game was won by Mariya, who overcame the game pretty easily. Harika use classic Philidor Defence but this opening is too pasive for her, letting Mariya once again punched in her tactical prowess and win the game. This is anticlimax for Harika, who done extremely good in the tournament. Mariya Muzychuk then go to final to challenge Natalia Pogonina in Ukraine vs Russia war.

white get big advantage with extra pawns and they are passed pawns 

the "tip-shake" to ended Harika's journey and advance Mariya to WCC final for her first time

Mariya Muzychuk vs Harika Dronavalli 1-0, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 5.6


FIDE World Women's Chess Championship 2015 Sochi - Final Pairing

WCC Sochi Finals!  Mariya Muzychuk vs Natalia "I'll be Back" Pogonina

Mariya Muzychuk played strong tactical games through out the tournament. She only lost the very first games against Yuan Yuanling and against Koneru Humpy. Her has problem in time trouble tough. If she won the world champion, she will meet Hou Yifan. Mariya is only one year older than Hou. Mariya is seeded 8th in the tournament and currently rank 12 in female chess player. This maybe the best time to give the younger Muzychuk to reach world level.
Mariya's previous opponents:
Round 1: Yuan Yuanling
Round 2: Monica Socko
Round 3: Antoaneta Stefanova
Round 4: Koneru Humpy
Round 5: Harika Dronavalli

Natalia Pogonina on the other side, struggling to reach her final. She got three losses to fight back. Yet she did. Natalia on 31st seed in the tournament, currently rank 40th in female chess player. Her best rating is 2508 just happened in July 2014.  If Natalia really to challenge Hou Yifan, I think the popularity of the match will be very high.
Natalia's previous opponents:
Round 1: Guo Qi
Round 2: Ju Wenjun
Round 3: Marie Sebag
Round 4: Zhao Xue
Round 5: Pia Cramling

In term of Mariya vs Natalija, both seem like to play tactical game, so expected to see (more) bloody rounds. They only got one draw games in chessgames.com, but should already played many times. Let's see how the match going on in April 2nd, 2015.

As we know, the winner of this FIDE Knock Out Championship will declared as Women World Chess Champion. Winner will played the future match against (now ex-) world champion Hou Yifan.
Eventually, popular opinions (and fact) see that both Mariya and Natalia will go only into one sided match against Hou Yifan.

All photos from official website

UPDATE : FINAL ROUND RESULTS

Women's Chess Championship Semi Final - Sochi 2015

The Big Four has been decided for Women's Chess Championship Sochi 2015. Before the tournament I guess nobody predicted to see all these four players in the semifinals. None of the tournament top four seeds have survived. Koneru Humpy must once again buried her ambition to challenge Hou Yifan because she was eliminated by Mariya Muzychuk. In round 4 game 1, a Scotch game, well you will see many non mainstream opening in this WCC. Koneru experienced a black out in the position...25.f6?? She lost the first game and her 6-0 winning streak, very much Caruana's curse. Then Koneru win back the 2nd game and proceed to tie break. In the tie break, Mariya upset the tournament by knock out Koneru in the 2nd rapid game.

Mariya Muzychuk vs Koneru Humpy 1-0, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 4.1

tie break rapid game, Zhao Xue vs Natalija Pogonina 0-1 in Benko Gambit

Benko Gambit for girls, four Benko Gambit appearances in Sochi 2015

The second successful story is again by Natalia Pogonina. She was once again behind the train with the first game lost to Zhao Xue. But then the Benko Gambit came in to rescue. Natalia won the second game via Benko Gambit that accepted but too passive for Zhao Xue to played as white. In the rapid game, Natalia repeated the Benko and won the first rapid, draw the second. Thus Natalia Pogonina also heroically in the semi final for the good Mother Russia cause. Well, talking about Benko Gambit, Viktorija Cmilyte also used this , twice against Meri Arabidze but her games are only draw.

Harika, concentrated on her rook endgame favorite

Meri Arabize herself found no more luck against the super luck Harika Dronavalli. Harika once again show her rook ending power to win the match 1.5-0.5. Noted the opening for the second game in round 4 is Torre Attack, which utilized to achieve the double rook ending very quick by Harika.

Apple Pia .... source of success

Then Pia Cramling made the story of the day by eliminated Anna Muzychuk. Both played the most games in the quarterfinal. Pia Cramling won the first rapid games in black, to be returned by Anna in second rapid game. In the semi-blitz game, Anna defended the black side by repeting the Benoni she once played in game 1 against Pia Cramling. This time it is very difficult to see why the position slowly turned into white benefit. Pia Cramling wins the  third tie break game. The last tie break game was also very tense. It is a Sicilian Kan that favorite by Pia Cramling. Pia get the nice position after Anna's 14..e5? Position became risky for white. But then in the end Pia Cramling not found the best move and happy with the draw result.

Anna Muzychuk vs Pia Cramling 1/2-1/2, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 4.6


Women's Chess Championship Semi Final Pairings - Sochi 2015

IM Mariya Muzychuk (2526 Ukraine) vs GM Harika Dronavalli (2492 India)
Harika's success so far can be said upon two things, her opening is solid and her endgame seems hold on enough. Suddenly Harika is a fearsome opponent when came to tense fight also. She is on her second semi finals as in the 2012 she got eliminated by Antoneata Stefanova. Mariya Muzychuk herself continued to be stronger and stronger in the field. Eliminating Koneru is quite a big task and her morale is high. Her big sister may help as well. On their both encounter, Mariya vs Harika, Harika is on +1 after about 10 games in chessgames.com Mariya now hold the strongest elo among the semi finalist. This is pairing will show the battle of Mariya the Tactical vs Harika the positional.

GM Pia Cramling (2495 Sweden) vs WGM Natalia Pogonina (2456 Russia)
Not many fans expected Pia Cramling to able to get to semifinals. She demonstrated that her experiences and stamina still very strong. Same thing can be said to Natalia Pogonina, although her story  looks stronger. Natalia both coming back from losses in round 3 and round 4. Remember she is the one eliminating Ju Wenjun in the other day. Her Benko Gambit is probably can't work smoothly against experience Pia Cramling. Interestingly they are both very equal on four meetings. Looks like exciting fight of contrasting player we have here.

Women's World Championship Sochi 2015 Quarter Final Pairings

Eight players will continue their fight for Women's World Chess Championship in Sochi 2015. They are the ones that survive the drama of round 3, which some stories can be told here.

The most dramatic are, in round 3 all four remaining Russian girls are losing their first game. Kosteniuk misplayed a long battle of French defence game against Harika Dronavalli, get trouble with passed pawn then lost. Alexandra "Sasha" Kosteniuk then fight back in epic style on game 2, she won and happily continued to tie break session. In both rapid tie break games, Kosteniuk actually in control, but strange things happen in rapid one when Kosteniuk carelessly choose 35..Ra3? which allow Harika to win a pawn and win the game.

in almost equal position, Alexandra played 35..Ra3?, losing the A pawn due to 36.Ra5!

Harika Dronavalli vs Alexandra Kosteniuk 1-0, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 3.3 (Rapid)


In rapid 2, Kosteniuk played in must win situation, creating complication and ended up in a pawn plus against Harika. Nevertheless, the extra pawn also create the famous Phillidor rook endgame situation. Harika hold it and go through the next quarterfinal round.

61.Ke5 will be winning, but Sasha choose 61.Re6+ , the game continue with Phillidor rook endgame type position and draw

Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Harika Dronavalli 1/2-1/2, WCC Sochi 2015 Round 3.4 (Rapid)

On the second came back is Natalia Pogonina. She lost the first game on round 3 against Marie Sebag. But her story was more happier than Sasha. Natalia manage to equalized and in the tie break completely overplayed Marie Sebag.

Two other Russian girls didn't survive. Alisa Galliamova must be the sacrificial lamb for the sake of seeing Koneru Humpy get her 6-0 score in the tournament. In another happy mother's day story, Pia Cramling wrapped the young Valentina Gunina and Pia advance to quarterfinals. Meri Arabidze is the last Georgian in the field, Meri overcome Viktorija Cmilyte in tie break and advance. Both Muzychuk sisters also survived. And the last one is Zhao Xue, who defeated Bela Kotenashvili and advance.

photo from Official website

Women's World Championship Sochi 2015 Quarter Final Pairings

Koneru Humpy (2581 India) vs Mariya Muzychuk (2526 Ukraine)
The score is not good for Mariya as their encounter always largely a win for Koneru. On the other hand, Koneru Humpy is on the way "can you do Caruana?"path with 6-0 score. As for Mariya, she got a bumpy tournament, notably when lost to Yuan Yuanling in very first game. Mariya's last championship only advance to 3rd round, so this is her best result so far. Can Mariya stopped Koneru, or at least stop the winning streak? In fact, this is the strongest pairing with both player in 2500 rating strength.

Harika Dronavalli (2492 India) vs Meri Arabidze (2374 Georgia)
The same question to Meri Arabidze, can she also stop Harika, who doing extremely good combined with enough luck spell. Harika so far defeated Tatev Abrahamyan, Irina Krush and Alexandra Kosteniuk. One more fact that hardly everyone remember, Harika is always in the quarterfinals since the last two championships. In 2010 she lost to Ruan Lufei in quarter, in 2012 she lost to Antoaneta Stefanova in semifinal! On the other side, Meri Arabidze also having her first and superb tournament, she eliminated Elizabeth Paehtz, Yaniet Morrero Lopez and Viktorija Cmilyte. It's look like this is their only first serious encounter. Meri admit she likes rapid games to classical, so expect to see the round prolonged to tie breaks. Rating wise, this is quite one sided pairing.

Natalia Pogonina (2456 Russia) vs Zhao Xue (2527 China)
Seems like both have playing each other for long time. Zhao Xue got a slightly better score on the database. Natalia comeback from her lost against Marie Sebag while Zhao Xue quite smooth in her path. If you remember well, Zhao Xue is one of female chess player that been in top 10-20 for so long. A big fight to decide whether the Russian or the Chinese that worth for a semifinal slot.

Anna Muzychuk (2552 Ukraine) vs Pia Cramling (2495 Sweden)
They have many games played between the two. The stronger Anna got a slightly better score. The third seed on the tournament against the most senior remaining participant, Pia out-senior Anna by 26 years. How can you stop somebody who has more than 40 years of chess experiences?

UPDATED:
SOCHI 2015 WCC FINALS
SOCHI 2015 WCC SEMI FINALIST

Women's World Championship Sochi 2015 Round 3 Pairings

Women's World Championship 2015 in Sochi has reached sweet 16 phase. Round 3 will start tonight with remaining 16 players that passed through the round 2 battle. There are drama as always in round 2 and its tie break session. The best games so far are Alexandra Kosteniuk's 23..Nc5!! breakthrough against Shen Yang as mentioned in many mainstream chess media.

Shen Yang vs Alexandra Kosteniuk

I particularly also impressed with Natalia Pogonina's win against 2nd seed Ju Wenjun. The games went into endgame that required winning moves to be played. Natalia Pogonina found them all, not always Stockfish's first choice, but it's winning moves. The thing is, Ju Wenjun also played resiliently and played the best defensive moves. Ju Wenjun actually has many tricks in defending the position, including checkmate trick. Natalia Pogonina saw them all and win this game.

Natalia Pogonina vs Ju Wenjun 1-0, Sochi WCC 2015

In the round 2 tie break session, the drama was when Anna Ushenina failed to show up to played against Marie Sebag. The reason is Anna's handphone got switch off and when restart, the time in the handphone show another time zone, one hour behind from Sochi time zone. Quite amusing to think when nowday smartphone is smart enough to automatically adjusting time zone according to where its activated. More interestingly, Anna has a wrist watch actually.....

Of hard fought round 2 tie break are Harika Drovanalli vs Irina Krush. In the first rapid tie break, Irina playing white side and quickly went down after the opening. In fact, Irina seems don't have any concrete opening against Harika in all her games. In drama start when in a position where Irina completely lost, both playing in only 20 seconds left, and both seemingly missed and found any check mated that can occured. In the end, the position is just too losing for Irina and she lost. In the second rapid Harika finally got into trouble but Irina just can't find the killing moves.

Irina Krush vs Harika Dronavalli 0-1, Sochi WCC 2015


The longest game to finished in the tie break is Huang Qian vs Bela Khotenashvili. Both trade peace offer for seven games, until finally Bela won the first blitz games and going through round 3.

Thus the pairings for Women's World Chess Championship 2015 are:

Koneru Humpy (2581 India) – Alisa Galliamova (2484 Russia) 
After playing two low seed players in each round Koneru will met her first experience strong opponent. Alisa Galliamova is in good form, defeating Christiana Lujan and Tatiana Kosintseva. In both encounter record, Koneru beat Alisa twice.

Marie Sebag (2482 France) – Natalia Pogonina (2456 Russia)
Natalia eliminated Ju Wenjun who is the second strongest player in the field. While Marie Sebag kind of get lottery when Anna Ushenina give away the first tie break game without fight. In their previous record, Marie Sebag is winning against Natalia.

Anna Muzychuk (2552 Ukraine) – Lela Javakhishvili (2481 Georgia)
looks like they haven't played each other before, but the sister, Mariya got outplayed many times. perhaps Mariya should share some knowledge to Anna.

Meri Arabidze (2374 Georgia) – Viktorija Cmilyte (2530 Lithuania)
no record found between the two. Viktorija is on the upper hand based on rating and experiences.

Alexandra Kosteniuk (2529 Russia) – Harika Dronavalli (2492 India)
They played many times with Kosteniuk still holding the winning side. Pretty interesting fight here. Both in good form.

Pia Cramling (2495 Sweden) – Valentina Gunina (2528 Russia)
Pia get a nasty bad record against the young Valentina. Four defeated and one draw only, on their encounter. Valentina surely on favorite side. Valentina is one of four Russian girls that still around in round 3.

Zhao Xue (2527 China) – Bela Khotenashvili (2513 Georgia)
Seven games in chessgames.com and the score is equal. Zhao Xue is the only remained China player in round 3. She should get help from her many colleagues (if they still in Sochi). On other hand, Bela is one of three Georgian player that still around.

Antoneata Stefanova (2522 Bulgaria) – Mariya Muzychuk (2526 Ukraine)
They played many times and the score seems equal. Antoneata is one the experience side even though both are pretty equal in rating wise also.

Official website is here with lots of photos. There is also lots of player interviews and many good reading on the official website. This is good when mainstream chess media (chessbase, chess24.com, chess.com etc.) all seemingly too late in reporting, some up to more than 2x24 late.