Hou Yifan wins the First Women Master in Wuxi

The first Chinese women chess grandmasters tournament is taking place from April 16 to April 24 (free day on April 21) in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, in China. Ten top Chinese women grandmasters, including Women's World Champion Hou Yifan, are participating. The event is a round robin with time controls of 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30 second increment for each move. Draw offers are only allowed with the permission of the chief arbiter and will only be granted in theoretically drawn positions. Games start at 14:00h local time.

Results of the final rounds

All games were won by White in round eight, with the leaders Hou Yifan and Shen Yang both taking a full point. That left them still half a point apart. In the final round top seed Hou defeated the only other full grandmaster in the field, Zhao Xue, with black, while Shen Yang conceded a draw against Tan Zhongyi. WGM Ju Wenjun, who had been in fifth place after seven rounds, won both her final games to catch Shen Yang in a tie for second.

WGM Ju Wenjun also scored 6.0/9 but lost out to Shen Yang on tiebreak points

Final standings (after nine rounds)

At the closing ceremony

Hou Yifan with dignitaries at the closing ceremony

Shen Yang with her prize certificate and trophy

A group photo of participants, officials, organisers and helpers

Pictures by Wang Yan

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN (courtesy of TWIC) 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 the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Copyright ChessBase