2011 Women’s Chess Grand Prix – Xue Dominates with 2800+ Performance

Posted on October 22, 2011 by William in All Articles w/ Videos, Strategy & Game Review, Tournament Updates

Chinese GM/WGM - Zhao Xue, had a performance rating over 2800+

The 3rd Women’s Grand Prix of the 2011 season was dominated from start to finish by Chinese female chess star Zhao Xue. Xue’s results have suffered in recent times, and many had written her off as just another falling star. One of her close competitors at this event, Nadezhda Kosintseva, knows just how good Zhao Xue is really playing these days – declaring “A lot of people have written her off. Nothing to say – she is a fighter!” Going into the last round of the 3rd Women’s Grand Prix in Nalchik, Zhao Xue boasted one of the most incredible performance ratings ever achieved by a female chess player – over 3000 FIDE. Even after her last-round loss to fellow Chinese superstar Ju Wenjun, Xue finished the tournament with a performance rating of well over 2800 FIDE.

Just How Did Zhao Xue Dominate?

In the following video, I take an in-depth look at Xue’s monsterous round 8 victory over the aforementioned Russian female chess star, Nadezhda Kosintseva. At this point in the tournament, Xue had achieved a significant lead over the field with an incredible score of 6.5/7, however Ju Wenjun and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya were close on her heels. Xue opened with d4, and Kosintseva played a fashionable line of the Queen’s Indian Defense with 4. …Ba6. Xue responded with 5. Qa4, and went on to quickly achieve pressure on the d-file by doubling her rooks with 12. Rd2 and 13. Rad1 – making black’s subsequent development of her queenside knight an uncomfortable affair. This d-file pressure provoked Kosintseva into playing 14. …e5 – creating a static weakness on the d5 square which played a critical role in the middlegame. Xue played very precisely and continued building her pressure against Kosintseva’s center – then switched at the perfect moment to a very dangerous kingside attack with 20. Bxh6! and 21. Rxd4! This exchange sacrifice enabled Xue to maintain constant, long-term pressure against Kosintseva’s kingside – which white was able to accurately convert to a full point in 35 moves.

Watch the Chess Video – Zhao Xue vs. Nadezhda Kosintseva

Women’s Chess: Have the Chinese overtaken the Russians and Europeans?

Nadezhda Kosintseva (pictured right) with her sister Tatiana (also a Grandmaster who played in this tournament)

This is a complicated topic and with the latest action in the 2011 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, it’s not getting any easier to figure out. Hou Yifan, current women’s world champion and winner of the first two legs of the 2011 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix cycle in Rostov and Shenzhen, did not participate in the 3rd leg of the 2011 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Nalchik as she was participating in a strong mixed (male) tournament in India at the time.  Tatiana Kosintseva was the Winner of last year’s Women’s Chess World Cup by a margin of 4 points! This year she had a tougher tournament. The highest rated female player in the world, Judit Polgar at 2709 FIDE, does not play in female events so one can only speculate on how she would adapt to the change of pace. The world’s #2 highest rated female player, Humpy Koneru, did not play in the FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik – although Koneru only achieved a 50% score at the Rostov Grand Prix event earlier this year. While it seems the Best Female Chess Player in the world changes nearly every week, one thing is for certain – women’s chess is growing at an exciting rate and it is great to see growing sponsorship and interest in events such as the 2011 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Nalchik, Russia.

Final Rankings for the Women Grand Prix in Nalchik, Russia – 2011

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William Stewart is a National Master. He specializes in Online Chess Coaching and maintains a daily updated Chess Blog