|
Sunday, 17 June 2012 |
Elina Danielian made a draw today in the game against Antoaneta Stefanova and keeps leading after the 7th round of FIDE Grand Prix in Kazan. Bulgarian player got slightly better position in the middle game but didn’t use all the chances although Armenian player found precise way to defend in the deep endgame. Katerina Lahno could have joined Elina Danielian on top but missed the winning possibilities in the game against world champion Hou Yifan. Anna Muzychuk drew against Tatiana Kosintseva and keeps sharing the second place. Viktorija Cmilyte defeated Betul Yildiz and caught Anna Muzychuk and Katerina Lahno. Nadezhda Kosintseva didn’t receive any advantage in the opening playing with white against Humpy Koneru and later on players agreed for a draw in the pawn endgame. Alexandra Kosteniuk found good chances to fight for advantage in the complicated game against Alisa Galliamova and succeeded to win.
Elina Danielian made a draw today in the game against Antoaneta Stefanova and keeps leading after the 7th round of FIDE Grand Prix in Kazan. Bulgarian player got slightly better position in the middle game but didn’t use all the chances although Armenian player found precise way to defend in the deep endgame. Katerina Lahno could have joined Elina Danielian on top but missed the winning possibilities in the game against world champion Hou Yifan. Anna Muzychuk drew against Tatiana Kosintseva and keeps sharing the second place. Viktorija Cmilyte defeated Betul Yildiz and caught Anna Muzychuk and Katerina Lahno. Nadezhda Kosintseva didn’t receive any advantage in the opening playing with white against Humpy Koneru and later on players agreed for a draw in the pawn endgame. Alexandra Kosteniuk found good chances to fight for advantage in the complicated game against Alisa Galliamova and succeeded to win.
 Antoaneta Stefanova – Elina Danielian 1/2 -1/2
Antoaneta Stefanova: We’ve played so many games with Elina, so I decided to play something different today. I was not very happy with my position but then Elina made a strange move 12.Nh5 and after that I’ve got some chances. I was also thinking to play 17.Qc3 instead of 17.Qb2 but black can play Nc6-Nc5, so I could not to find if there is something better. There was an interesting opportunity to play 22.Nd7 Re8 23.a5 but then black play Rc7 and I have to sacrifice my knight. 24.ab Rd7 25. ba but I didn’t believe it can be true because I had feeling black could hold it. Later on I so an interesting variation lets say my dream variation where black lose after 28...Ne429. Nd4 Rf2 30. Re4Be4 31. Kf2 Bb132.Ndc6 and my pawn b6 is unstoppable (laughs).
Elina Danielian: Maybe Qc7 was not so precise move, maybe simple Rc8 was better. I also think that Nh5 was not necessary to play. I believe I had to go into this endgame with 2 pawns against 3 because this b-pawn was very dangerous. I was sure I will make draw. After I managed to change the rooks it was impossible for white to win.
While Kazan is hosting FIDE Women Grand Prix, Armenia is staging “Chess giants” tournament, this year conducted to honor the memory of late Karen Asriyan. Would you compete there as well, provided you had a different calendar?
Elina Danielian: It would be too hard for me. Karen was my friend, and it would be too much for me to compete at the Memorial in his honor. (Olympic Champion Karen Asriyan died at the age of 28 in 2008 due to heart attack) .
Katerina Lahno – Hou Yifan 1/2 -1/2
Hou Yifan: It was normal opening and then I decided to change queens and go for the endgame which was ok for black. Later on I didn’t play very well and made few mistakes. In one moment I was much worse, close to lose.
Katerina Lahno: of course I had huge advantage but I don’t know where I missed it. When you are in time trouble it’s easy to make one inaccurate move and lose your edge. And that is exactly what happened today.
Katerina Lahno: - What about the longest game in my career? Well, I can remember it in details, although I was 7. I competed at the J10 World Championship and my opponent and I had spent 7 hours playing. I had many pieces on the board, while my opponent was apt at pressing the chess clock button. As a result, when she had just 1 second before the time control, my flag fell. The time was over, and I turned to suffer a defeat.
Tatiana Kosintseva – Anna Muzychuk 1/2-1/2
Tatiana Kosintseva: Anna plays many different variations and Marshall attack is one of those, so I preferred to chose Anti-Marshall attack. I played a4 with Alexandra but today it was d3 - not the principal variation. I think black played precisely. After 22.Nd7 white should try to play against the weakness. If they are fast they can have better position.
Anna Muzychuk: I think white usually play 17.Nd4 and I didn’t really remember the move Ne2. I was thinking to play d5 on 29th move instead of Qf6 but could not evaluate the position after.
- What was the longest game in your chess career?
Tatiana Kosintseva: - I’m not sure, but even here it was a very long game against Humpy Koneru. It was too much: we have done 93 moves. After suchlike games it’s pretty difficult to recover. Especially, if you haven’t done well. You’re doomed to sitting and analyzing the mistakes, and therefore will spend less time on preparations toward the next games.
Anna Muzychuk: Once I used to play a 154-moves-match against Natalia Pogonina. I was lucky to have it in the final round of the tournament, and therefore I could not spare my strength (smiling). For Natalia it was a decisive clash, in case she won she could have clinched the podium. As a result we concluded a draw.
 Nadezhda Kosintseva – Humpy Koneru 1/2-1/2
Nadezhda Kosintseva: I chose the wrong tactics when speaking of the play to win. Stil I’ve got different endgame compare to the one which happened in the game between Humpy and my sister Tatiana. In that game there was an ending with bishop against knight and here we had bishop against bishop. Maybe it was bit pleasant for me because of permanent weakness on e6.
Humpy Koneru: If white don’t really try to play for win such position can appear and it’s easy for black to play. The pawn endgame was equal but I just tried the last chance and played b3. It’s dangerous for White to take the pawn on b3.
What was the longest game in your career?
Nadezhda Kosintseva: I played against my sister. Our matches are normally drawish, but this time during Russian Championship J20 we were doing not good both, and therefore decided to play our best. After 6 hours of hard play, there came a draw.
Alexandra Kosteniuk – Alisa Galliamova 1-0
Alexandra Kosteniuk: I think black play too risky in that variation. Just look at the position - white had already developed few pices and made a castle while black played with pawns. I saw the idea b4 and a4 in other variations. I spent a lot of time on 15-16 moves because I was not sure what shell I do. I was afraid my position will fall to pieces but fortunately it didn’t happen. After Na8 it was clear that my position is completely winning.
Viktorija Cmilyte – Betul Yildiz 1-0
Viktorija Cmilyte: I think I didn’t play precisely in the opening – I had to take 8.Bc4 instead of 8.Nc3 because I had 9.Bb5 if black plays 8...Nh4. That’s why I took this pawn with my queen. I didn’t really like my position and maybe black should not make short castle but play Bg4 and I would play Ne1. I was glad to have an opportunity to play 16.g3 and not to allow opponent’s knight to come on f4. After 16...Bh3 if I simply play 17.Re1 black could play 17...Qd7 and then all those ideas with Nf4 were also possible. So I decided to sacrifice exchange because after black played f6 the white squares were weak and my white square bishop could become strong.
Betul Yildiz: I agree that it was not a good idea to take on f1 immediately but after 17...b4 18.Na4 Qd7 and 19.Kh1 it was possible to take an exchange. Later on it was not easy to play because my pawns were weak and pieces were not placed well.
Have you ever played a really long match?
Betul Yildiz: Well, I’ve had a lot of them in my life! I have experienced one during World Chess Olympiad in Turkey in 2000. Just imagine: 7 hours at the table! At first I was winning, then losing, then there was a draw, and finally my opponent got tired and made a mistake to let me celebrate the most enduring win! One small remark: I was just 11 then.
Viktorija Cmilyte: When I was a girl, I also played a lot of 7-hours-long games. We have got a better time control at the moment! We are used to it, and everything is OK.
Kamilla Baginskajte was among the first top chess players in Lithuania. Is she still playing?
Viktorija Chmilyte: As Vladas Mikenas is recognized father for Lithuanian chess, Kamila Baginskajte opened chess elite circles for women players. She used to win J20 World Chess Championships and then she got married to Alexey Ermolinskiy, former Soviet and now US chess player. Together they moved to America and have been in the US chess squad so far. I usually meet her at Olympiads or other team competitions. Kamila’s got two children already. By the way, we have had a common coach. My coach was her coach, and still he has been collaborating with me.
|
