Two Georgian chess players gained 0.5 points in the 9th round of Grand Prix last stage which is underway in the capital of Qatar, Doha.
World champion Maia Chiburdanidze played against Bulgarian Antoaneta Stefanova with white pieces but she could not beat one of the outsiders and played draw. This half point advanced Georgian chess player with one step and now she is sharing the 5th-6th places with Swedish Pia Cramling. In the 10th round, Chiburdanidze will play against French Marie Sebag with black pieces. Sebag is in the 2nd place and is fighting for winning Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, another Georgian chess player Nana Dzagnidze lost her game with black pieces. She was beat by Sebag, future opponent of Chiburdanidze, and Dzagnidze lost chance to win the tournament because two rounds before the end of the competition, she is 2.5 points behind Armenian leader Elina Danielyan. In the 10th round, Dzagnidze will play against outsider Zhu with white pieces and in the last round, her opponent will be Maia Chiburdanidze. Dzagnidze is in the 4th place with 5 points and is one point behind her opponent Koneru. Yifan is leading with 410 points and Dzagnidze is in the 2nd place with 390 points. Koneru has 323.30 points. Winner of the last stage will gain 160 points. Other points will be shared this way: 2 - 130, 3 - 110, 4 - 90, 5 - 80, 6 - 70, 7 - 60, 8 - 50, 9 - 40, 10 - 30, 11 - 20, 12 - 10.
The 6th stage of FIDE Grand Prix. Doha (Qatar). February 20-March 6
The 9th round
Marie Sebag (France, 2489) – Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2550) 1:0
Maia Chiburdanidze (Georgia, 2502) – Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria, 2546) 0.5:0.5
Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Mongolia, 2410) – Pia Cramling (Sweden, 2516) 1:0
Elina Danielyan (Armenia, 2454) – Martha Fierro Baquero (Ecuador, 2363) 1:0
Yuhua Xu (China, 2484) – Humpy Koneru (India, 2607) 0.5:0.5
Lilit Mkrtchyan (Armenia, 2475) – Chen Zhu (Qatar, 2495) 1:0
Tournament situation
7.5 – Danielyan
6.5 – Sebag
6 – Koneru
5 – Dzagnidze
4.5 – Chiburdanidze, Cramling
4 – Mkrtchyan, Fierro Baquero
3.5 – Munguntuul
3 – Xu, Stefanova
2.5 - Zhu
The 10th round
Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2550) – Chen Zhu (Qatar, 2495)
Humpy Koneru – (India, 2607) – Lilit Mkrtchyan (Armenia, 2475)
Martha Fierro Baquero (Ecuador, 2363) – Yuhua Xu (China, 2484)
Pia Cramling (Sweden, 2516) – Elina Danielyan (Armenia, 2454)
Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria, 2516) – Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Mongolia, 2410)
Marie Sebag (France, 2489) – Maia Chiburdanidze (Georgia, 2502)
