(Photo taken from the official site)
The first round proved to be very interesting despite only two wins. A.Muzychuk and Khotenashvili lead the event.
Results of the 1st round
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545 ½ – ½ GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517 ½ – ½ GM Yifan HOU 2617
IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505 1 – 0 WGM Wenjun Ju 2544
WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298 ½ – ½ GM Anna Ushenina 2491
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522 ½ – ½ GM Kateryna Lagno 2548
GM Anna Muzychuk 2585 1 – 0 WGM Olga Girya 2463
Muzychuk-Girya was the main line of the Classical Caro-Kann which quickly led to an endgame where Black made a novelty on move 19, instead of the usual 19…Rfd8. White managed to gain a lot of space on both sides and center but Black seemed to have it all under control. On move 28 both sides got isolated pawns, but c6 became more weak than d4.
Pairings of the 2nd round
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2491 – WGM Olga Girya 2463
GM Kateryna Lagno 2548 – GM Anna Muzychuk 2585
GM Anna Ushenina 2491 – GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2522
WGM Wenjun Ju 2544 – WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg 2298
GM Yifan HOU 2617 – IM Bela Khotenashvili 2505
GM Nana Dzagnidze 2545 – GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2517