The 1st Hangzhou Women Grand Master Chess Tournament is at the halfway point, taking place July 14th - 23th 2011 in Hangzhou, China. It is a classical time control featuring top female players from around the world, featuring an average FIDE rating of 2525.
Dzagnidze opened with white and Wenjun responded with the King's Indian Defense. White played the opening completely without ambition and allowed black to easily achieve equality. Then, Dzagnidze blundered with 33. e4?? - allowing her opponent to win 3 pawns after the dust had settled - leading to her resignation on move 45.
It appeared the Zatonskih's preparation was solid as she blasted the complicated 11. ...b5!? - however Wenjun played with precision to reach a favorable pawn-up endgame. Zatonskih's defense was not active enough as Wenjun went on win in 41 moves with accurate technique.
The youngest ever Women's World Champion Yifan Hou is not going to be forgotten in a tournament like this, as she currently shares 2nd place at 2.5/4 with N. Kosintseva. The brilliancy prize for the tournament so far must go to Hou's 1st Round victory over Sebag. Hou opened with the normally tame Rossolimo Opening with 5. Bb5, however opposite side castling made the game much more interesting as each player fought to attack the opponent's king. Perhaps playing in the center and trying to push for ...d5 would have been a better choice for Sebag, as her queenside attack simply proved to be too slow. Hou rapidly forced through on black's kingside with 20. f6 and 21. g6! The resulting complications led Hou to sacrifice her queen for a pawn with 30. Qxh6+! to corral black's king. Sebag resigned after 32. f8=Q+ as she would be mated the next move with 33. Rh8#
Photos and Game PGNs are available at ChessBase.com For the Original Article on the Women Grand Master Chess Tournament, please visit William's website