Koneru is the second-highest-rated woman in history, behind Hungary’s Judit Polgar who plays in men’s events only. In Istanbul, the young Indian’s rival was 15-year-old Hou Yifan of China, who had defeated her in the semifinals of the 2008 world championship.
Hou won their seventh-round showdown in Istanbul and took the lead. Koneru admitted later that she lost her hope to win the title. But she finished with three wins and a draw, while Hou lost to her compatriot Zhao Xue and could only draw her last three games.
Hou and Elina Danielian of Armenia shared second place, half-a-point behind Koneru.
Martha Fierro Baquero, who teaches chess in North Carolina but represents Ecuador, scored 5 1/2-5 1/2 and tied for sixth place with Sweden’s GM Pia Cramling. Former world champions Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia and Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria managed only a tie for eighth place at 5-6.
Game of the week. Ranked as the number five woman in the world, the 45-year-old Pia Cramling has been one of the strongest female players since the 1980s. At one time, she shared the number 1 world ranking with Susan Polgar. Pia regularly plays on the Swedish men’s team in the World Chess Olympiads and was awarded the men’s grandmaster title in 1992, becoming the third woman in history after Susan and Judith to earn it. Married to the Spanish GM Juan Bellon, she won the 2003 women’s European Individual Chess Championship.
Here is Cramling against Betul Cemre Yildiz of Turkey as annotated by GM Lubosh Kavalek.
White: P. Cramling (2548)
Black: B. Yildiz (2214)
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
Women’s Grand Prix, Istanbul 2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.Bxc4 Qc7 (5…dxe3? 6.Bxf7+! wins.) 6.Bb3!? (Cramling sacrifices a pawn, playing a real gambit. Saving the pawn with 6.Qb3 e6 7.exd4 is possible. Black should avoid 6.Qb3 Be6? since after 7.Bxe6! Qxc1+ [or 7…fxe6 8.0-0!] 8.Ke2 Qxh1 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 10.Qxb7 white wins.) 6…e6 (Accepting the pawn 6…dxe3 gives white the edge after 7.Bxe3 e6 8.Nc3 Bd7 9.Rc1 Qa5 10.0-0 Nf6 11.Nd2!? Be7 12.Nc4 Qa6 13.Bg5! 0-0 14.Ne4! with strong pressure.) 7.0-0 d3 (Black is returning the pawn, hoping to slow white’s development.) 8.Qxd3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Qe2 (Against 10…Nc5.) 10…a6 11.e4 Nc5 (11…Bd6 does a better job preventing the e4-e5 advance.) 12.Bc2 b5 13.Bd2 Bb7 14.Rfc1! (X-raying the black queen on the same file and preparing a queenside assault.) 14…Qd8 (After 14…Be7 15.b4 Ncd7 16.e5! black has problems.) 15.b4 Ncd7 16.a4! (Cramling is relentless.) 16…bxa4 (After 16…Bxb4 17.Nxb5! black could go down quickly, for example 17…Bc5 [on 17…Bxd2 comes 18.Nd6+! Ke7 19.Qxd2] 18.Nbd4 0-0 19.Rab1 Rb8 20.e5 Nd5 and now the classic bishop sacrifice 21.Bxh7+ should win after 21…Kxh7 22.Ng5+ Kg8 23.Qd3 g6 24.Ndxe6 Qe7 25.Nxc5 Nxc5 26.Rxc5 Qxc5 27.Qh3, threatening 28.Qh7 mate.) 17.Bxa4 Bxb4 18.Nd5! (A smashing leap, exposing the black king in the long run. The advance 18.e5! is also troublesome for black, e.g. 18…Bxc3 19.Bxc3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Nd5 21.Ba5! Qe7 22.Bc7, threatening 23.Bd6.) 18…Bd6 (After 18…Nxd5 comes 19.exd5 Bxd2 20.Qxd2 0-0 [on 20…Bxd5 21.Ne5 wins] 21.dxe6 Nb6 22.Qxd8 Rfxd8 23.e7; and after 18…Bxd2 19.Nc7+ Kf8 20.Qxd2 Rb8 21.Rab1 white has decisive pressure, for example 21…Bxe4?! 22.Rxb8 Qxb8 23.Ne5! Nxe5 24.Qd6+ Kg8 and the pretty deflection 25.Nd5!! ends the game.) 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 (After 19…Qxf6 20.Qd3 Qe7 21.e5 Bb8 22.Bg5 f6 23.exf6 gxf6 24.Bxf6! wins.) 20.Qd3 Qe7 21.Rab1 Rb8? (There is no hope anyway. After 21…Bc8 22.e5 fxe5 23.Qe4 wins.) 22.Rxb7! (On 22…Rxb7 23.Rc8+ follows.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White — Qc2, Nd3, pawn on d5, Bd6, Re7, Kh3
Black — Bb2, Qc3, Re4, Nf3, Kh8, pawns on d7, f4
White to play and mate in two.
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