Cramling and Yifan Leads After Round 2

Among the ten games played up to now ,there has only been one draw which was definitely the result of a long fight. Pia Cramling and Hou Yifan are leading the field with perfect score after winning against Zhu Chen and Betül Cemre Yıldız respectively. Ekaterina Atalık and Irina Krush reached 1,5 points after drawing against each other. Xhue Zhao stroke back after winning against Anna Ushenina as Indian prodigy Harika Dronavalli did against Lela Javakhishvili. In the third round the early leaders Hou Yifan and Pia Cramling are facing each other. See the link below.

Tournament Page

SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
10	GM	CHEN Zhu	2548	0 - 1	GM	CRAMLING Pia	2524	6
7	WGM	YIFAN Hou	2527	1 - 0	WIM	YILDIZ Betul Cemre	2207	5
8	WGM	XUE Zhao	2517	1 - 0	IM	USHENINA Anna	2484	4
9	IM	DRONAVALLI Harika	2455	1 - 0	IM	JAVAKHISHVILI Lela	2470	3
1	IM	KRUSH Irina	2473	½ - ½	IM	ATALIK Ekaterina	2408	2

In the clash of two grandmasters in the tournament Pia Cramling made a double-edged decision to play with the isolated pawn for the sake of having a more comfortable. Until white captured on e4 everything seemed in order but after that there was a drastic change in the position. After Ne2, and the more or less necessary misplacement of the queen at h2 caused black to lose the game.

Hou Yifan faced the younger local hero Betül Cemre Yıldız and they reached a Benoni-type position with a similar pawn structure which seemed to favor white. White seemed to have the upper hand in the rest of the game but when the time control came closer white's d pawn decided the outcome and Chinese youngster won her second consecutive game.

Zhao won against Ushenina in Queen's Gambit Tarrasch where our silicon friends change the evaluation of the position upside down from balanced to a clear plus for white after 17..Ba4 which allows white to save her queen in a much better position. Before f6 , a6 might be another good alternative but the text caused black huge problems which caused black to lose.

The first draw of the tournament was between Atalık and Krush which reached an ending where white had some chances of winning but in the time scramble and some resourseful defence by black, the advantage eventually melted down and the game ended with the perpetual check.

The game between Dronavalli and Javakhishvili ended as a win for the latter after a slightly better game for black turned into a clearly better position for white when white found chances for penetrating into the black position.

After the second round Cramling and Yifan are leading the field and facing each other while Atalık and Krush are following them from half point behind.

One of the many views of Istanbul from the venue.

The playing hall from a different angle.

Cramling and Yifan Leads After Round 2

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