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FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Monte-Carlo: Yifan Hou takes the trophy |
The winner of the first leg WGP, Yifan Hou (China), 9 out of 11, performance 2766
The last round was not as peaceful as one would expect. Number one of the World ranking Yifan Hou secured tournament’s victory already after round 10, as she had a 1,5 point advantage over second-placed Humpy Koneru, so she was ready for an open battle in the last round, trying to take advantage of the White pieces. But her opponent, Alexandra Kosteniuk, played a very good game with Black and got chances even for victory, but after five hours the game finished with a draw. Anna Muzychuk won her first game in the tournament against Humpy Koneru, and thanks to this result her sister Mariya Muzychuk, who drew with Almira Skripchenko, managed to reach Koneru and take second place. Natalija Pogonina and Pia Cramling made a draw and shared the 4th and 5th places. In the other boards, Antoaneta Stefanova and Natalia Zhukova played an interesting game, which ended in a threefold repetition, while Nana Dzagnidze won her fourth game in a raw, against Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.
Second place, Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), 7 out of 11, performance 2619
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Third place, Humpy Koneru (India), 7 out of 9, performance 2614
Yifan Hou with a performance 2766 earned 10,000 EUR prize money, 160 Grand Prix points and 11 elo points. Mariya Muzychuk and Koneru Humpy shared second place, but tie-break was better for World champion, Mariya is second and Humpy is third.
Final ranking
1 Hou Yifan 9
2 Muzychuk Mariya 7
3 Koneru Humpy 7
4 Cramling Pia 6
5 Pogonina Natalija 6
6 Stefanova Antoaneta 5½
7 Kosteniuk Alexandra 5½
8 Dzagnidze Nana 5
9 Skripchenko Almira 4½
10 Zhukova Natalia 4½
11 Muzychuk Anna 4½
12 Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 1½
Results and crosstable are online, visit also the photo gallery. Press conferences will be available in the video gallery
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