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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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.
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.
Very dodgy pairing. No other way of protest would have gotten much attention. Organisers should be ashamed of themselves for the sham they call computer pairing.
ConwyCastle 2/2/2017 07:28
Chessbase: can you ask a statistician to comment on the probability of her string of female opponents?
FabulousNight 2/2/2017 07:27
To the organizer: Pairings made by a machine? I belive you 0.001% ...and still have to say your machine is stupid
abdekker 2/2/2017 07:25
@lostapawn: Explain to everyone how the coin is unfair, please? Over the million throws it came up 50% heads and 50% tails. Anybody defending Yifan on the basis that the draw is "obviously biased" should present evidence. Unusual things happen in life. Even this morning, I saw the car number plate YRG 145 J...spooky. Then two of my office colleagues wore green jumpers AND black shoes...unbelievable! Its like witchcraft! Yawn.
David Sprenkle 2/2/2017 07:14
If the organizers manipulated some pairings, like all the woman vs woman pairings, or the all-U.S. Naka vs Caruana pairing, then that's okay--if they made it clear what they were doing--and why. Perhaps they programmed the pairings algorithm that way. But to have Mr. Callaghan leave Yifan out to dry by saying "the machine spit them out, we can't change them" implying that there was no manipulation--well, that's just wrong, if true. That's a sever injustice. And the truth will come out, one way or the other.
lostapawn 2/2/2017 07:12
@abdekker You should take a course in statistics yourself. It is not a certainty that you will get a certain exact sequence. Also, the coin is not fair.
Cajunmaster 2/2/2017 06:56
Please, all you male chauvinist armchair supreme court judges: how is it that all the psycho male champions of history will end up being "understood" because of their "genius" and poor Yifan is being condemned, at best in paternalistic fashion?
She has always been quite the picture perfect chess ambassador and must have had strong reasons to get emotional about the situation. She apologized. Case closed.
Green22 2/2/2017 06:46
wow she's a huge cry baby! have some pride and play the damn game...
PatrickP 2/2/2017 06:35
Given the fact that she wanted to make a point, this was a very smart way to get the attention it deserves. The chance that this drawing is just pure "luck" is very, very small. Point made, I wonder what "they" do with this.
abdekker 2/2/2017 06:29
Pathetic! Yifan, take a course in statistics. Flip a fair coin a million times and record heads (h) or tails (t). Pick any sequence you like and you'll almost certainly find it. For example, HHHHHH or HTHTHT or whatever. With all the millions of games and tournaments, unusual sequences of games is not unlikely...they are a certainty. Yihan has acted unprofessionally and dishonoured the title of World Champion.
garyroe 2/2/2017 06:10
1.g4 Ahh the unique Yifan-Protest Opening. Needs more trial and analysis but soon to be used by all leading Grandmasters.
tages erebus 2/2/2017 06:09
Hou Yifan did what she considered to be the correct way to protest and I completely support her decision. I will not judge her story by this and no one should judge the chapter of her life they have walked in on.
Igor Freiberger 2/2/2017 05:59
Even considering the pairings were weird, Hou's behavior is childish and anti-professional.
A7fecd1676b88 2/2/2017 05:45
Kudos Huo. The Masters matter, the organizers do not... She could have forfeited a la Fischer, but she gave everybody a show. Well done.
Nathanian 2/2/2017 05:23
It is sexist! Why 7 W-W pairings? Gibraltar organizers made mistakes of pairing that way; Hou Yifan
should not throw a game. First, try to be as great as Bobby Fischer. Then you demand what you want. Your Queen Sac is great. Bravo!
fixpont 2/2/2017 05:10
The best way to protest against playing too many females is to give up a game.....against a male. Logic at its best.
PEB216 2/2/2017 04:49
There are many ways to protest, but throwing a game to an opponent is not one of them. Hou Yifan has dishonored herself, her country, and her fans.
manebivocu31 2/2/2017 04:29
Wow!
But I have to admit that I was also wondering about the high number of female-female parings. Weird...
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