Lahno wins again

Elina Danielian's opening didn't work out so well, so she sacrificed her e-pawn in the quest for an initiative. Although she obtained attacking chances, she became short of time and went astray in the complications.

Hou Yifan opted for a sharp theoretical line of the notoriously complicated Poisoned pawn variation. She was clearly better prepared and went far ahead on the clock. Nadzezhda Kosintseva sacrificed two pawns, but Hou Yifan returned them for an active position and got the better of the draw.

Humpy Koneru managed to outplay Alexandra Kosentiuk in a Breyer and was able to achieve many of her strategic aims: Knight on f4, breaking up the centre and then damaged White's kingside. After the exchange of queens Black was a pawn up and managed to keep control despite time pressure.

After Anna Muzychuk's aggressive handling of the Caro-Kann, Antoaneta Stefanova rode through the complications unscathed. Indeed she emerged with the better chances in the queenless middlegame. Later despite keeping the advantage throughout, she failed to find anything convincing as Anna Muzychuk defended the knight endgame rather well to scrape the draw.

Although White retained an active posture on the kingside, Tatiana Kosintseva had the time to keep Kovalevskaya at bay whilst making gradual progress on the queenside. A desperate attempt at a perpetual failed as Kosintseva walked her king to safety.

Alisa Galliamova obtained the bishop pair in the slightly offbeat opening against Ruan Lufei. Her bishops were then able to exert serious pressure and finally she won a pawn, which she skillfully converted.

Round 5: