Gibraltar Flash: Hou Yifan resigns in 5 moves!

by ChessBase
2/2/2017 – In a curious case at Gibraltar Masters, women's world champion Hou Yifan resigned in a mere 5 moves, breaking the record previously held by Viswanathan Anand for the quickest loss by a grandmaster. The 'scandal' occurred during the final round of the Masters tournament, known to be the best Open in the world.

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A controversial form of protest

In a bizarre series of events, Hou Yifan has lodged a unique form of protest at the Gibraltar Masters by choosing to make uncharacteristic moves in the opening and resign soon after.

Hou Yifan moments after resigning | Photo: John Saunders

The incident occurred in the final round of the Gibraltar Masters. Hou Yifan was playing with the white pieces on the 17th board against Indian GM Lalith Babu. She arrived 25 minutes after the games began and started to play quickly.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.g4 1515 d5 288 2.f3 22 e5 119 3.d3 21 Qh4+ 221 4.Kd2 67 h5 103 5.h3 95 hxg4 119 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hou,Y2651Lalith Babu M R25870–12017A00Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 201710

On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.

GM Lalith Babu M.R. | Photo: Sophie Triay

Speaking to ChessBase India soon after the game, Lalith said, "I was scared when she played 1.g4 and I suspected preparation! But when I saw 2.f3, I figured out that something was wrong."


The game naturally attracted interest from onlookers  | Photo: John Saunders

To make matters even more curious, spectators are reporting that Yifan sported a smile during the game. Fans in social media are speculating that she may have done this in protest against the pairings-system that has been employed in the tournament where in 10 games, she has played 7 female players.

Rd. Bo. SNo Title Name Rtg FED Pts. Res. w-we
1 22 143 WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2303 IRI 4.5 s 1 0.11
2 19 85 GM Zhukova Natalia 2447 UKR 5.5 w 1 0.24
3 11 47 GM Muzychuk Anna 2558 UKR 5.5 s ½ -0.13
4 16 51 GM Muzychuk Mariya 2546 UKR 6.0 w 1 0.36
5 4 5 GM Adams Michael 2751 ENG 7.0 s 0 -0.36
6 19 81 GM Cramling Pia 2454 SWE 5.0 w ½ -0.25
7 20 78 IM Ider Borya 2463 FRA 5.5 s 1 0.26
8 15 38 GM Ju Wenjun 2583 CHN 7.0 w 0 -0.59
9 23 66 IM Batsiashvili Nino 2492 GEO 5.0 s 1 0.29
10 17 37 GM Lalith Babu M R 2587 IND 6.0 w

Hou Yifan resigns

Yifan resigns on the live webcast

Speculations are also coming in from Gibraltar saying that some players suspect the pairings have been done manually while the arbiters denied such a scenario. While some are commenting that 'giving away the game' is unacceptable.

Official Update from Gibraltar Masters Officials:

Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan from China has apologized for giving away her game this morning against Lalith Babu M R from India in the last round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival within five moves.

Hou Yifan and Tournament Organiser Brian Callaghan speak about the incident

In an exclusive interview with the Festival press team Hou Yifan tells Tania Sachdev she apologized to chess players, to her fans and those following the Gibraltar Masters. Hou Yifan said she had been dissatisfied and had been upset with the pairings throughout the tournament as she had drawn seven women players out of 10 rounds. Tournament organizer, Brian Callaghan, interviewed directly after the Women’s World Champion was disappointed at what had happened and felt she had let herself down. Being a World Champion he said brought with it a great responsibility. Although sympathetic about her reason for giving her game away, Mr. Callaghan was quite clear that he did not believe the pairings had been wrong or that the move by Hou Yifan had damaged the tournament. But he did refer to the world champion having had a “bad day at the office”. Mr. Callaghan insisted the festival had welcomed her several times to the Rock and the festival had always been a keen promoter of the women’s game in chess and that this would continue into the future.


Live-Video from Gibraltar

 

Live: American Cup Women Champions 2025
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Abrahamyan-Lee
MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 4 c5 19 2.Nf3 9 Nc6 9 3.Bb5 26 e6 7 4.Bxc6 57 bxc6 34 5.b3 6 e5 8 6.Bb2 4:19 B30: Sicilian: 2...Nc6 3 Bb5, lines without ...g6. d6 47 7.d3 1:04 Ne7 6:47 8.Nbd2 1:38 Ng6 4:33 9.g3N 1:27 9.h4 h5 10.Nc4 f6 11.Ne3 d5 12.g3 Be6 13.Qe2 Bd6 14.0-0 Kf7 15.Ne1 9...Bh3 5:16 10.Qe2 3:17 Be7 4:09 11.0-0-0 5:44 0-0 2:58 12.Nc4 24:42 Qd7 5:56 13.Ne3 4:21 f5! 1:11 14.exf5 2:19 Bxf5 21 15.Nd2 39 Bh3 3:59 16.Kb1 10:04 Rf7 4:05 17.f3 2:20 Raf8 50 18.Rde1 3:18 d5 9:43 19.Rhg1 6:56 Bd8 1:52 20.Ba3 6:29 Qd6 3:04 20...Re8 21.Nd1 2:45 Ba5 10:46 22.Qe3 5:26 d4 2:26 22...Rd8= remains equal. 23.Qe2!± 1:13 Qd5 14 24.Nf2 1:24 Bf5 2:39 25.Rd1 2:59 25.h4± 25...Bc3 3:50 25...Bxd2 26.Qxd2 26.Rxd2 Be6= 26...Qxf3 26.h4 21 Bxd2 14:50 27.Rxd2 12 Bd7 37 28.Ne4 3:13 Rxf3 6 29.h5 29 29.Bxc5?! R8f7= 29...Re3 3:32 29...Nh8± 30.Qh2+- 1:35 Nh8 2:10 31.Bxc5 1:30 31.h6+- Black must now prevent hxg7. Bf5 32.hxg7 32.Bxc5 Rf7 32...Kxg7 33.Bxc5 31...Rb8 3:42 31...Rff3± 32.Ba3! 2:37 32.Bxa7 Ra8± 32...Nf7 33 33.Rf1 14 Inhibits Bf5. Qa5 1:50 33...h6± 34.Bc1 56 Be6 29 35.Qh4 39 Bd5 2:04
36.h6! 58 Qd8 1:02 36...gxh6 37.Nf6+ 37.Rdf2 Bxe4 38.dxe4 Qd8+- 37...Kh8 38.Rdf2+- 36...Bxe4 37.dxe4 37.Rdf2 1:22 Qxh4 9 38.gxh4 1 Nxh6 1:05 39.Bxe3 25 dxe3 1 40.Rg2 47 Bxe4 38 40...Rf8 41.Rxf8+ Kxf8 41.dxe4 1 Endgame KRR-KRN Rd8 6 42.Re1 42 Nf7 37 43.Rxe3 7 Rd1+ 4 44.Kb2 3 Rh1 4 44...Rd7 is a better defense. 45.h5 Kf8 45.Rc3 1:28 Rxh4 2 46.Rxc6 4 g5 9 47.Rc8+ 44 Kg7 1 48.c4 5 Nd6 2:41 49.Rxg5+ 59 Kf6 8 50.Rcg8 4 Nxe4 40 51.Rg2 49 h5 21 52.Rf8+ 55 Ke7 13 53.Ra8 17 Rg4 29 54.Rxa7+ 4 Kf6 4 55.Rh2 20 h4 33 56.Rh7 23 Kg5 1 57.a4 32 Nc5 1:28 58.a5 1:32 Rg3 35 59.Rg7+ 40 Kf5 2 60.Rf7+ 36 Ke6 16 61.Rc7 16 Kd6 12
62.Rxc5? Kxc5 2
63.Rxh4? 31 KR-KR. White is two pawns up. White has to play 63.a6!+- 63...Kb4= 9
64.c5+! 55 Kxc5 1:15 65.Ra4 45 Kb5 25 The position is equal. 66.a6 29 Intending a7 and mate. Rg8 4 67.a7 17 Ra8 2 68.Re4 11 Rxa7 6 69.Rxe5+ 2 Kb4 7 70.Re4+ 5 Kb5 3 71.Kc3 7 Rc7+ 3 72.Rc4 45 Rxc4+ 6 73.bxc4+ 4 Kc5 2 74.Kc2 5 Kxc4 4 White really could win this. Weighted Error Value: White=0.16 (very precise) /Black=0.41 Mistake: White=2 Black=8 Inaccurate: White=5 Black=2 OK: White=28 Black=17 Best: White=1 Black=4 Strong: White=1 Black=1
½–½
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StWhiteEloWBlackEloBResRndid
Abrahamyan,T2310Lee,A23863.21279479
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