Stefanova Leads Women's World Chess Blitz in Batumi after 9 Rounds; Kosteniuk, Koneru, Harika Right Behind

Fantastic Chess continued on the third of the Batumi Women's World Rapid Chess Championship on Saturday in Georgia. Overnight joint leaders Antoaneta Stefanova and Koneru Humpy had varying fortunes. Stefanova is now sole leader after nine rounds with 7.5 points as she drew with Koneru Humpy, beat Nino Khurtsidze and Kateryna Lahno. Humpy, on the other hand, after drawing with Stefanova, lost to Kateryna Lahno and beat Guo Qi. That dropped Humpy to joint third with Kateryna Lahno and Anna Muzychuk.


Opening ceremony of the Batumi
Women's World Chess Championship.
In hot pursuit behind Stefanova is the very talented 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Her fiery attacks and sharp play fetched her a draw against Huang Qian, plus two superlative wins over Elisabeth Paehtz and Tan Zhongyi.

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Women's World Rapid Chess Championship in Batumi: Koneru Humpy Leads with Stefanova; Alexandra Kosteniuk Upsets Top Seed Muzychuk

Exciting chess is defining the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship currently on in Batumi, Georgia. The first six rounds have been played and already the 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has beaten top seed Anna Anna Muzychuk of Slovakia. The attacking champion is in joint second place after six rounds even as India's Koneru Humpy and Bulgaria's Antoaneta Stefanova lead just a half point more. Apart from Humpy, India's other player Harika Dronavalli is doing pretty well too. Here are great video reports of the proceedings so far:








The top standings at the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship 2012 after six rounds is as follows:

1		GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2589	5.0	17.0	24.5	2708
2		GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2518	5.0	14.5	21.5	2720
3		GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	RUS	2457	4.5	15.5	23.0	2714
4		WGM	Huang Qian	CHN	2417	4.5	15.0	22.5	2716
5			Wang Jue	CHN	2364	4.5	12.5	20.0	2706
6		GM	Lahno Kateryna	UKR	2546	4.5	12.5	18.5	2623
7		GM	Zhao Xue	CHN	2549	4.0	16.0	24.0	2596
8		GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2478	4.0	15.5	21.5	2588
9		GM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2598	4.0	13.0	19.0	2510
10		IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2491	4.0	12.5	17.5	2545

Three rounds would be played on Saturday - 7,8, and 9. The top pairings for Saturday include Stefanova-Humpy, Lahno-Jue, Kosteniuk-Huang, Muzychuk-Cramling, and Zhongyi-Harika.


You can watch the Batumi chess championship live from India time 4.30 pm onwards at the official website. 

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World Chess Rapid Championship for Women Live from Batumi India Time 4.30 pm Today; Koneru Humpy Second Seed

GM Koneru Humpy

India's Koneru Humpy begins Women's World Chess Rapid Championship 2012 quest today

It's time to watch live the Batumi Rapid World Chess Championship for women within an hour with India's top woman chess player Grandmaster Koneru Humpy (2589) playing as second seed at the event. Top seed at the Batumi Rapid Chess is Anna Muzychuk (2598) of Slovakia. Of course, India wants to have their second world chess champion within a few days. Hopefully, GM Koneru Humpy is up to the challenge. The other Indian chess player in the field is the talented Harika Dronavalli at seed nine. You can watch the tournament live every day at the official website. 

The top 20 players at the event include:

No.		Name	FED	Rtg
1	GM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2598
2	GM	Koneru Humpy	IND	2589
3	GM	Zhao Xue	CHN	2549
4	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2547
5	GM	Lahno Kateryna	UKR	2546
6	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2532
7	IM	Gunina Valentina	RUS	2530
8	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2518
9	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2508
10	GM	Chiburdanidze Maia	GEO	2500
11	IM	Khotenashvili Bela	GEO	2500
12	GM	Zhu Chen	QAT	2491
13	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2491
14	GM	Danielian Elina	ARM	2484
15	GM	Socko Monika	POL	2484
16	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2478
17	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	RUS	2457
18	IM	Krush Irina	USA	2457
19	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2456
20	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2456

For more details about the chess tournament and the subsequent Women's World Blitz Chess Championship read our detailed post:

World Chess Championships - Sexy, Exciting, and Fast?

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World Chess Championships - Sexy, Exciting, and Fast?

Top Seed Anna Muzychuk

If you are a little taken aback by that chess headline, don't be. Such a chess championship can truly take place. In fact, it would be true from May 31 itself! The World Rapid Chess Championship for Women is taking place from May 30 to June 6 in Batumi, Georgia. The championship will be held at the swanky Sheraton Hotel. It is being organized by the ACP and the Georgian Chess Federation. Read full post for top players' list and format. Women's World Chess Championship challenger Koneru Humpy is the second seed. Also playing is the very attacking 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, European Women's Chess Champion Valentina Gunina, Armenia's top woman player Elina Danielian, and others.

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