Before the last round of Gibraltar Chess Festival, world champion Yifan Hou (2605) became leader among women. Asian lady who is No.25 seed at the tournament defeated Alexei Shirov (Latvia, 2710) with black pieces and sensationally advanced.
Hou earned 7.5 points in 9 rounds. She is 0.5 points ahead of five chess players. In the decisive round, Chinese will play against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan (2747) who is in the third place.
Georgian Nana Dzagnidze (2535) is competing successfully. She earned 6.0 points and is in the 18th place. In the previous round, Dzagnidze played against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France (2699) with black pieces. She played draw on the 77th move. In the last round, Nana will play against Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia (2683) with white pieces.
Besides Dzagnidze, other four Georgian chess players are playing in Gibraltar. Their situation looks like this: 61. Salome Melia (2398) – 5.5; 77. Lela Javakhishvili (2454) – 5.0; 106. Nino Khurtsidze (2444) – 4.5; 174. Shalva Kakulia (2133) – 4.0.
Ten rounds will be held at the Gibraltar tournament and it will end up on February 2. Prize money will be shared the following way: I place – 20 000 EUR, II – 12 000, III – 10 000, IV – 8 000, V – 5 000, VI – 3 500, VII – 3 000, VIII – 2 500, IX – 2 000, X – 1 000, XI – 1000, XII – 1000. Woman winner will gain 10 000 EUR, the second-third placed – 7 000 and 5 000.
