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Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo (2015) . Background This is the first leg of four in the Women's Grand Prix series 2015-2016 which will determine the challenger for the women's crown in 2017. The second leg will be held in Tehran, Iran, in February 2016, the third in Tbilisi in Georgia in May 2016 and the fourth and final leg in Chengdu in China. When The first round started on 3 October 2015 with the eleventh and final round being played on 15 October 2015. Rest days were 7 and 12 October. Where Monte Carlo, Monaco. Format Round robin, twelve players, eleven rounds. Time Control 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. Tie Breaks No tie breaks are being used in individual GP tournaments. Prizes and Grand Prix ranking points are shared equally where there are any tied placements. If there is a tie at the top of the Grand Prix points tally by the end of the last event, then the winner will be declared as follows, with successive tiebreakers being invoked if the earlier ones do not break the tie: - No. of actual game result points scored in the three tournaments - No. of 1st places - No. of 2nd places - No. of wins - Drawing of lots Prizes and Grand Prix points (1) The total prizemoney for this event is €60,000 (nearly US $68,000). Grand Prix points awarded for each place in the event are in brackets after the prize money. 1st Prize €10,000 (160 pts) <4th Prize> €5,750 (90 pts) <7th Prize> €4,250 (60 pts) <10th Prize> €3,000 (30 pts) 2nd Prize €8,250 (130 pts) <5th Prize> €5,000 (80 pts) <8th Prize> €4,000 (50 pts) <11th Prize> €2,750 (20 pts) 3rd Prize €6.750 (110 pts) <6th Prize> €4,500 (70 pts) <9th Prize> €3,250 (40 pts) <12th Prize> €2,500 (10 pts) Comments Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk was the first player to take the lead, doing so as sole leader as early as round two. She drew in round three against the young Iranian player Sarasadat Khademalsharieh enabling Koneru Humpy to catch up and share the lead. However Muzychuk regained the sole lead in round four when she defeated Natalie Zhukova. She maintained the sole lead in round five despite a short draw with her sister Anna, but the gap narrowed with Yifan Hou only a half point behind in the chasing pack. Round six saw Koneru and Yifan draw level with Muzychuk for the shared lead, with Koneru and Yifan drawing ahead in round seven. Round eight finished with Yifan taking the sole lead and finishing strongly to win the event after round ten, with a round to spare. Her final score was 9/11, two full points clear of the field. A fuller round by round description can be found in the official site (linked below), with photos and other stories from the event. Official site http://monaco2015.fide.com Next Women's Grand Prix Tournament FIDE Women's Grand Prix Tehran (2015) Main source and footnote (1) https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/...  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 66  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. P Cramling vs Yifan Hou   0-1 40 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A46 Queen's Pawn Game 2. S Khademalsharieh vs A Muzychuk   ½-½ 20 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E15 Queen's Indian 3. N Zhukova vs N Dzagnidze   ½-½ 20 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A04 Reti Opening 4. M Muzychuk vs A Stefanova 1-0 74 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo B06 Robatsch 5. Kosteniuk vs Skripchenko   ½-½ 31 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E17 Queen's Indian 6. Koneru vs N Pogonina ½-½ 56 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E46 Nimzo-Indian 7. A Stefanova vs Kosteniuk   1-0 37 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A04 Reti Opening 8. N Dzagnidze vs M Muzychuk 0-1 20 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D83 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit 9. A Muzychuk vs N Pogonina 0-1 47 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 10. Skripchenko vs P Cramling   0-1 67 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo B30 Sicilian 11. Yifan Hou vs Koneru 0-1 75 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. S Khademalsharieh vs N Zhukova   ½-½ 32 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A58 Benko Gambit 13. P Cramling vs A Stefanova 1-0 42 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 14. Kosteniuk vs N Dzagnidze   1-0 54 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo B32 Sicilian 15. N Zhukova vs A Muzychuk   ½-½ 35 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 16. N Pogonina vs Yifan Hou 0-1 82 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 17. Koneru vs Skripchenko 1-0 30 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E15 Queen's Indian 18. M Muzychuk vs S Khademalsharieh   ½-½ 47 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E01 Catalan, Closed 19. A Stefanova vs Koneru   1-0 59 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A05 Reti Opening 20. Skripchenko vs N Pogonina   ½-½ 21 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo C48 Four Knights 21. A Muzychuk vs Yifan Hou ½-½ 44 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo E00 Queen's Pawn Game 22. N Zhukova vs M Muzychuk   0-1 57 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A15 English 23. S Khademalsharieh vs Kosteniuk   0-1 43 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 24. N Dzagnidze vs P Cramling   ½-½ 96 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo D39 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin, Vienna Variation 25. Yifan Hou vs Skripchenko 1-0 74 2015 Women's Grand Prix Monte Carlo A15 English  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 66    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   TIP: You can make the above ads go away by registering a free account! < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-14-15    detritus: Maybe Mariya M. should start playing 3. a6 against Hou's Sicilian. She needs to figure out something against 1. … c5, since she prefers 1. e4 as White. Hou's two wins against her with the Sicilian have been brutal. Oct-14-15    dumbgai: <Eduardo Leon> Yes of course, nothing is ever certain. That's why they play the matches. But let's just say that I wouldn't bet on Muzychuk unless I got very generous odds. One factor to consider in the 1927 match was that Capablanca didn't prepare nearly as much as Alekhine and was likely overconfident. I sure hope Hou doesn't start making that mistake. I also hope Hou wins the match in her opponent's hometown, proving that the hometown advantage can be overcome with superior play. Not that she needed it in Ushenina - Hou Women's World Championship (2013). Oct-14-15    dumbgai: By the way, Humpy's failure to convert a promising position against Cramling means that Hou has secured clear first with a round to spare. With 8.5/10, she's 1.5 points ahead of second place. Oct-14-15    Eduardo Leon: <dumbgai: Hou has secured clear first with a round to spare.> Which seems to be a habit already. :-) FIDE Women's Grand Prix Khanty - Mansiysk (2014) FIDE Women's Grand Prix Lopota (2014) Oct-14-15    detritus: D'oh, I meant 3. a3, of course. Oct-14-15    Mr. V: True, Hou Yifan is a favorite in the match vs Muzychuk, but otoh she's also shown some weaknesses in this tournament at times. she had an inferior position in the middlegame vs Khademalsharieh, and she sadly lost the endgame versus Humpy. She is mortal, it seems, like the Magnus Carlsen of 2015 rather than the Magnus Carlsen of 2014. Oct-14-15    Eduardo Leon: <detritus> What does that achieve, besides helping black equalize more easily? Sicilians are meant to be battles to death, with the winner bullying the loser into submission. Muzychuk's third move isn't to blame for her loss: Ivanchuk vs Kasparov, 1991. Oct-14-15    choosea: < Humpy's failure to convert a promising position against > #DroppingPawnsLikeTokens Oct-14-15    HeMateMe: Hou is the Magnus Carlsen of women's chess. She is on another level. Wonderful that we have them both at the same time, both young and in their primes. Oct-14-15    detritus: <Eduardo Leon> It was a joke, which I flubbed by posting 3. a6 first. Although, if she does start studying with Vadim Zvjaginsev, who knows…? :D Oct-14-15    detritus: I really don't know what I'm talking about, because I should have said 2. Na3 to begin with. I blame all the drugs. Oct-14-15    HeMateMe: chessbase says that Skripchenko has won $250,000 playing poker. I wonder if she'll be giving it a try, being that the tournament is being held in Monaco? <http://en.chessbase.com/Portals/4/f...> Oct-14-15    HeMateMe: here she is, the model for the poster of the Woman's grand prix tournament in Monaco: <http://en.chessbase.com/Portals/4/f...> quite a beauty <http://www.e-wigs.com/images/Amore/...> Oct-14-15    sonia91: <Fishy: The Ukraine is getting drowned by Russia but can host chess tournaments?> Politics ≠ Sport Oct-14-15    jphamlore: <HeHateMe> I wonder if in poker whether Skripchenko is better than Grischuk. Oct-15-15    dumbgai: Black scored as well as white in this tournament. Equal number of 1-0 and 0-1 games. Oct-15-15    HeMateMe: ahh, here she is, the model for the tournament. <https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.Me...> the photo was blocked on the google link. Oct-15-15    AzingaBonzer: A lot of those 0-1 games were by Hou, so yeah. Oct-15-15    HeMateMe: her rating is 150 points higher than Mariya M. The match will be in Ukraine, Muzychuk is a Ukrainian. Good for the Ukrainians, supporting their player, and the game of chess. It's nice to see them make that kind of an effort. I would think +2 would be a logical final score. it would be a victory for Mariya if she could keep the loss to one point. Hou will get...an extra 10% of the total prize money, for agreeing to play on the home soil of the opponent? Oct-15-15    waustad: Thanks cg for the official site link. I hope that becomes a standard feature. Oct-15-15    dumbgai: Agree with <waustad>. Very useful. By the way, one of the following is a duplicate game: N Dzagnidze vs N Pogonina, 2015 N Dzagnidze vs N Pogonina, 2015 Oct-16-15    detritus: The Muzychuk sisters got their likenesses on a Ukrainian postage stamp. That's something, I suppose: http://monaco2015.fide.com/en/compo... Oct-17-15    HeMateMe: nice stamp, but the Ana photo looks like it was taken when she was 16, while the Mariya photo looks current. Perhaps it's just an illusion of lighting. Oct-17-15    alexmagnus: M. Muzychuk may have badly lost to Hou, but her overall result is the second place - behind Hou. So she is not as bad and "undeserving" as many put her. By the way, Hou didn't take part in that KO. Also, that KO win seems to have set some unknown forces free - her results strongly improved afterwards. I expect her to lose the WC match but to do better than Ushenina did - and not worse than Humpy did. Oct-20-15    detritus: +3 is a good result, but pales in comparison to +7. There's also the small matter of MM getting absolutely waxed by Hou's Sicilian Defense the two times she's faced it. That's kind of a problem for a 1. e4 player in a 10-game head-to-head match. MM in March '16 will undoubtedly be stronger than Ushenina was in September '13, but Hou will also be a stronger player in the upcoming match compared to when she faced Ushenina for the title. I don't think the rating difference between the contestants will be that much different in March '16 as they were in September '13. It would be great to see Mariya really test Hou, but I'm not so sure that's realistic, given how much stronger Hou projects to be in the upcoming match. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 3) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No posting personal information of members. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific tournament and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | new kibitzing | chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | privacy notice | contact us Copyright 2001-2018, Chessgames Services LLC