Sharjah: Reigning world champion Hou Yifan of China has officially won the 2013-2014 Fide Women’s Grand Prix, despite compatriot Ju Wenjun grabbing the solo lead of the final leg after nine rounds of action at the Sharjah Chess Club on Thursday.

Wenjun beat GM Harika Dronavalli of India to tally 7½ points, half a point ahead of erstwhile co-leader Hou Yifan. The two leaders were teammates in the Chinese women’s team which came second in last month’s Chess Olympiad in Norway.

Wenjun played black and used the Modern Defence Averbakh variation. The Chinese launched a kingside pawn storm and gained control of the centre file with her rook. She rapidly escorted her passed pawn to the second rank to threaten promotion. Dronavalli did not gain counter-play and had to give up her Queen for a rook and resigned on the 41st move after nearly four hours of play.

Yifan was held to a draw by Elina Danielan of Armenia to trail alone in second with seven points. Danielan used a hedgehog pawn formation with black and reached an equal rook and pawn endgame to draw by repetition of position on the 57th move after almost six hours of play.

In the post-game press conference, Hou Yifan promised to try her best to catch up and win the Sharjah tournament. With two rounds remaining, Ju Wenjun has stronger opposition against Koneru Humpy and Tatiana Kosintseva, while Hou Yifan will face Batchimeg Tuvshintugs and cellar dweller Alina L’ami.

Batchimeg Tuvshintugs of Mongolia used the Sicilian Defence against Nafisa Muminova of Uzbekistan. A flurry of exchanges resulted in an end-game of opposite coloured Bishops and they halved the point on the 40th move.

Former women’s world champion Anna Ushenina of Ukraine also used the Sicilian Defence to beat Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia and follow close behind in fourth slot with 5½ points. In the minor piece endgame, Ushenina had the advantage of Knight over Bishop in a locked pawn formation and threatened promotion or further gain of material when Kosintseva resigned on the 58th move after five and a half hours of play.

The final leg of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Women’s Grand Prix offers €60,000 (Dh285,366) for the tournament and €90,000 total cash prizes for the Grand Prix. Games are broadcast live through the www.fide.com site.