FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco
The 2nd leg of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2019-2020 is underway in Monaco. Number one woman player Hou Yifan is missing this edition of the Grand Prix due to her studies at Oxford University.
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2019-2020 is a series of four tournaments: Skolkovo finished in September where Humpy Koneru won first place, Monaco this month, Lausanne (Switzerland) in March and Sardinia (Italy) in May next year.
India’s Humpy Koneru and Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina are SBD’s favorites to finish top-two in Monaco. Kosteniuk held Humpy to a draw after missing a half chance in the opening. While Koneru’s Elo trails Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia, the 32-year-old Indian claimed first-place in Skolkovo and has a considerably higher peak Elo than Goryachkina (2623 vs 2575). Yes, that peak Elo came ten years ago, but her recent performance in Russia shows that she is getting back to her best since returning to competition in September of last year.
In Round 7 in Monaco, Koneru defeated Zhao Hue to share the lead with Goryachkina heading to the last 4 rounds:
Standings after Round 7, Monaco 2019
Superbet
After winning the Fischer Random championship, a bottom dweller in the next tournament. Indeed, you can’t bake your cake and have it.
Carlsen ‘deeply ashamed’ of heavy loss to So in World Random final ★
He shouldn’t be. Fischer Random is a whole new dimension to the game, and Wesley So is no slouch either.
The major problem is corruption. It’s hard for athletes to get financial assistance to compete abroad, especially if they don’t have connections. For example, we would send teams to the Asian Games and there would be more officials on the plane than athletes.
Wesley So, in an interview with Chess.com, describes corruption, particularly in sports, in the Philippines.
Sam Shankland Outhustles the Hustler
I think GM Sam Shankland is a bad actor at this hustling game.
Top 20 Best Chess Players Ranking History (2000-2019)
Amazing to see just how Magnus Carlsen held on to the No. 1 spot since July of 2011, almost 8 years now, and never looked back since then. I wonder how this kind of video will pan out in the future.
Road to Candidates to find a Challenger for Magnus Carlsen ★
This is going to be a little tougher for Wesley So to enter the elite Candidates tournament now that he’s out of the Top 5 in the rankings.
Aeroflot Open Round 1 Called Off After Bomb Threat ★
Shortly after the start, the first round of the Aeroflot Open has been canceled due to a bomb threat at the venue, Hotel Cosmos in Moscow. The round has been postponed until tomorrow.
Scary! Now, even chess tournaments — at high levels that is — are subjects of bomb threats.