The 5th
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Ulaanbaatar was won yesterday by Hou Yifan of China,
with 8 points in 11 matches. She was followed by Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria with
7.5 points. Three other Grandmasters, Tatiana Kosintseva of Russia, Zhao Xue of
China, and the top seed Koneru Humpy of India all finished with 6.5
points.  Mongolia’s big hope,
International Master B. Munguntuu finished 11^th, with 3.5 points.

The last
day’s matches began at 10 so that everyone could be ready for the closing
ceremony which was planned for 4 pm. Hou Yifan needed just a draw to be
declared winner while Stefanova had to defeat her to gain the first place. In
the event, it ended in a draw, allowing Hou the added distinction of being the
only participant to end the tournament without a defeat.

The
closing ceremony was held at the State Drama Art Theater. S.Lambaa, Minister of
Health, expressed the hope that the tournament would lead to further
development of chess in Mongolia. He recalled that this year marks the 75th
anniversary of the establishment of Mongolian Chess Federation and 55th
anniversary of its joining FIDE.

S.Enkhtsag,
President of Mongolian Chess Federation, thanked the FIDE Presidential Council
and its President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, for allowing Mongolia to host the first
major international chess competition in the country.

Chairman
of FIDE Verification Commission Lakhdar Mazouz thanked the Organizing Committee
of the tournament, its general sponsors, the Chess Federation of Mongolia, and
all the players, and congratulated the prize winners.