
The Chinese Chess Championships are taking place in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, from April 16th to 24th 2013. Games start at 8:30am CEST.
Wei Yi, who is thirteen (he was born on June 2 1999), keeps having impressive results all around the globe. After securing his grandmaster title in the recent Reykjavik Open, he is now leading the Chinese Chess Championship alongside super-GM Wang Yue. The tournament is still very close, however, as three strong grandmasters are in pursuit only half a point behind. The field includes twelve of the best grandmasters in China and is an eleven round round-robin. This year will crown a new champion for the country, as the three time victor of the past years, Ding Liren, is busy testing his mettle against the world elite in the Alekhine Memorial. Ding Liren currently holds the record for being the youngest person to win the Chinese Chess Championship, we will see if Wei Yi can continue on his path and break that record.
Among the pack of people with three points is ex-Women's World Champion Hou Yifan, who will be trying to regain her world title in September of this year against Anna Ushenina. She will coincidentally be defending her title in the same city this tournament is being held, which also happens to be her home town! Here we have a smashing victory by Yifan against Yu Yangyi:
Thirteen-year-old Wei Yi has shown very cold blooded chess as he continually evades and counters all of the strong attacks his aggressive opponents have been throwing at him. For example look at his king movements in his game against Li Chao:
Struggling: GM Zhao Jun, rated 2589, now at 2.0/5
In the women's section Ding Yixin (above), a 21-year-old WGM who will celebrate her 22nd birthday during round ten, seems to be running away with the event as she now has a commanding full point lead over her closest rivals. However she still hasn't played the toughest opposition, while Guo Qi, one of her closer suitors, has already played Shen Yang and Wang Jue. Probably the most important players missing from the women's section, besides Hou Yifan who is playing next to the girls but not with them, are Ju Wenjun, who recently scored a GM norm in the Dubai Open, and GM Zhao Xue, China's number three female.
Today both sections have a rest day and the games will continue tomorrow with a crucial round as the leaders Wei Yi and Wang Yue face each other.
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |