The Hou Yifan exhibition continues!

Hou Yifan has every reason to keep smiling! © official site

Top beat bottom in the seventh round in Rostov. The World Champion, Hou Yifan, now on 6½/7, leads by two whole points. The second placed pair, Tatiana Kosintseva and Kateryna Lahno drew their encounter in 40 moves, the shortest game of the day.

Two of the games were attempted Berlin Defences, but in both cases White preferred to avoid the main lines with 4.d3.

In the battle for second place, White's gradual pawn push didn't cause too much distress in the black camp, and Lahno was able to hit back at the centre. Unfortunately for her, her pressure only led to mass simplification and there was no advantage in the knight endgame.

The other game with 4.d3 was also drawn. The former World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk, obtained the bishop pair and even won a pawn, but the presence of opposite bishops in the endgame put paid to any winning chances.

Hou Yifan switched to the French and once Kovalevskaya opened the centre the World champion castled long. After a spirited fight in the centre, Hou Yifan was able to push her d-pawn deep into the heart of White's position which led to her winning a pawn and ultimately the endgame.

Nadezhda Kosintseva and Humpy Koneru played out a manoeuvring Breyer. Once the position opened up it led to a mass cull on the queenside and no winning chances for either player.

White's only win of the day was achieved by Anna Muzychuk in a rather fortunate fashion. A double-edged position had started to shift in Black's favour when Alisa Galliamova blundered a key pawn, and then the game was all Muzychuk's.

Not for the first time, Antoaneta had the longest game of the day. Danielian opted for a Catalan-style g2-g3 against the Bulgarian's Chebanenko Slav. In the early middlegame, the Armenian sought activity with a pawn sacrifice, but this soon led to naught, and she then got her pieces tangled and lost two pieces for a rook. Despite valiant resistance from Danielian, Stefanova was able to wear down her opponent's defences.

The round 7 summary:

White	Rating	Result	Black	Rating	Moves	Opening
Alexandra Kosteniuk	2497	½-½	Ruan Lufei	2479	47	Spanish with d3
Anna Muzychuk	2538	1-0	Alisa Galliamova	2492	59	Siilian Richter-Rauzer
Kosintseva Nadezhda	2560	½-½	Humpy Koneru	2614	49	Spanish Breyer
Elina Danielian	2521	0-1	Antoaneta Stefanova	2524	83	Slav with g3
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	2427	0-1	Hou Yifan	2575	66	French Classical
Tatiana Kosintseva	2557	½-½	Kateryna Lahno	2536	40	Spanish 4.d3

The table after seven rounds:

Posn.	Name	Title	Country	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	Score
1	Hou Yifan	GM	CHN	2575	X	.	.	1	1	½	.	1	1	.	1	1	6½
2	Kateryna Lahno	GM	UKR	2536	.	X	½	0	.	1	.	1	½	.	1	½	4½
3	Tatiana Kosintseva	GM	RUS	2557	.	½	X	½	.	½	.	.	½	1	½	1	4½
4	Anna Muzychuk	IM	SLO	2538	0	1	½	X	½	.	½	1	.	.	.	½	4
5	Humpy Koneru	GM	IND	2614	0	.	.	½	X	½	½	½	1	1	.	.	4
6	Nadezhda Kosintseva	GM	RUS	2560	½	0	½	.	½	X	½	.	.	.	½	1	3½
7	Antoaneta Stefanova	GM	BUL	2524	.	.	.	½	½	½	X	0	½	½	1	.	3½
8	Alisa Galliamova	IM	RUS	2492	0	0	.	0	½	.	1	X	½	1	.	.	3
9	Alexandra Kosteniuk	GM	RUS	2497	0	½	½	.	0	.	½	½	X	½	.	.	2½
10	Ruan Lufei	WGM	CHN	2479	.	.	0	.	0	.	½	0	½	X	1	½	2½
11	Elina Danielian	GM	ARM	2521	0	0	½	.	.	½	0	.	.	0	X	1	2
12	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	IM	RUS	2427	0	½	0	½	.	0	.	.	.	½	0	X	1½

The Schedule:

Date	Rounds etc.
01st August 2011	Opening ceremony
02nd August 2011	1st Round
03rd August 2011	2nd Round
04th August 2011	3rd Round
05th August 2011	4th Round
06th August 2011	Rest day
07th August 2011	5th Round
08th August 2011	6th Round
09th August 2011	7th Round
10th August 2011	8th Round
11th August 2011	Rest day
12th August 2011	9th Round
13th August 2011	10th Round
14th August 2011	11th Round

Times of the rounds:

Rounds 1-10 at 3 pm local time (1pm Paris, 12 noon London, 7am New York)

Rounds 11 at 12 noon (10am Paris, 9am London, 4am New York).

For further information go to the Official site: http://rostov2011.fide.com

For Live games: http://rostov2011.fide.com/tournament-games.html