Lahno leads Women's World Blitz at the half

After 15 (of 30 rounds), GM Lahno of Ukraine (married to my friend GM Robert Fontaine of France, an excellent reporter/journalist for Europe Echecs, the #1 French chess media source) is leading the 2010 Women's World Blitz Championship, 1 point ahead of former WWC Stefanova.

Lahno is a very strong and talented player. Unfortunately, she does not receive the recognition she truly deserves. Maybe this will be a breakthrough event for her. However, just keep in mind that no lead is safe in blitz and anything can still happen tomorrow with 15 more games to play.

Here are the full standings at the half:

No.	Title	Name	Fed.	FIDE	Local	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Total
1	GM	Lahno, Kateryna	UKR	2539	2539	X	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	=	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	11.5
2	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	2551	2551	0	X	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	=	1	=	1	=	0	0	10.5
3	GM	Kosintseva, Tatiana	RUS	2573	2573	0	0	X	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	=	1	1	1	1	1	9.5
4	WGM	Gunina, Valentina	RUS	2465	2465	0	0	1	X	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	9.0
5	GM	Koneru, Humpy	IND	2593	2593	1	0	0	0	X	1	0	0	1	1	1	=	1	1	=	1	9.0
6	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	RUS	2524	2524	0	0	0	1	0	X	1	1	0	0	1	1	=	=	1	1	8.0
7	IM	Gaponenko, Inna	UKR	2469	2469	1	0	0	0	1	0	X	=	1	0	=	1	1	1	1	0	8.0
8	IM	Muzychuk, Anna	SLO	2535	2535	1	0	1	1	1	0	=	X	=	0	=	0	=	1	0	1	8.0
9	GM	Sebag, Marie	FRA	2499	2499	=	0	1	1	0	1	0	=	X	1	0	=	0	1	0	1	7.5
10	IM	Krush, Irina	USA	2490	2490	0	=	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	X	0	1	1	0	1	=	7.0
11	IM	Skripchenko, Almira	FRA	2464	2464	0	0	=	0	0	0	=	=	1	1	X	0	=	1	1	=	6.5
12	IM	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	RUS	2565	2565	0	=	0	0	=	0	0	1	=	0	1	X	1	0	=	1	6.0
13	IM	Muzychuk, Mariya	UKR	2464	2464	0	0	0	0	0	=	0	=	1	0	=	0	X	1	1	1	5.5
14	WGM	Paikidze, Nazi	GEO	2376	2376	0	=	0	1	0	=	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	X	1	0	5.0
15	GM	Zhukova, Natalia	UKR	2499	2499	0	1	0	0	=	0	0	1	1	0	0	=	0	0	X	1	5.0
16	WGM	Nebolsina, Vera	RUS	2360	2360	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	=	=	0	0	1	0	X	4.0