Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika went down to Bulgaria’s Antoaneta Stefanova slipping to seventh place with only four points after the eighth round in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess tournament.
The lower-rated Stefanova (Elo 2453) outlasted the Indian no.2 (Elo rating 2518) in a 95-move game late on Tuesday to improve to 3.5 points. Kashlinskaya, who was the joint leader with compatriot Alexandra Goryachkina after the seventh round, lost to world champion Ju Wenjun to slip to joint second spot.
It was the first win in the tournament for Ju Wenjun, who made the most of a blunder by her opponent on the 22nd move and took her tally to four points. Georgian Nana Dzagnidze outplayed Frenchwoman Marie Sebag in 34 moves to joint Goryachkina at the top of the standings with five points.
The results (eighth round):
D. Harika 4 lost to Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul) 3.5; Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) 4.5 drew with Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kaz) 4.5.
Alexandra Goryachkina (Rus) 5 drew with Pia Cramling (Swe) 4; Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) 4.5 bt Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) 2.
Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 5 bt Marie Sebag (Fra) 2.5; Alena Kashlinskaya (Rus) 4.5 lost to Ju Wenjun (Chn) 4.
