Taizhou 06: Hou Yifan wins, leads by three points

by ChessBase
9/18/2013 – It's all but over. Challenger Hou Yifan won her third black game in a row to take a commanding lead over reigning world women's champion Anna Ushenina, who must now contrive to win three of the remaining four games just to stay in the match. It looks very much as if the 19-year-old Chinese GM will regain the title she first won at sixteen. Report and analysis.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Women’s World Chess Championship Match 2013 between the current World Champion Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and her challenger, Hou Yifan of China (former World Champion 2010-2012), is being played from September 11th to 27 in the Taizhou Hotel (Taizhou, China). The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The games start at 3 p.m. local time. That translates to 09:00 a.m. CEST, 03:00 a.m. New York, 10:00 a.m. Kiev. You can find your local time here.

Round six report

Things couldn't be more dire at the moment for defending World Champion Anna Ushenina. In round six she was quickly surprised out of the opening, as it was clear from her time consumption that she was unfamiliar with the specific variation Hou Yifan prepared for this game. With equality on her hands in a still dynamic position, Yifan pressed forward but an inaccuracy allowed her opponent to regain the balance. The game was tense but Ushenina's time management ultimately cost her the game as a blunder close to move 40 gave away an exchange and any hopes of salvaging the game.

The current situation will demand risks from the Ukraine player as Hou Yifan is one win (or two draws) away from winning the World Championship.

One point away from the title: Chinese GM Hou Yifan...

... plays a Queen's Indian and scores for a third time in succession with black

In dire straits: reigning women's world champion Anna Ushenina, whose mood is wonderfully
captured in the following series by Anastasiya Karlovich – pictures that require no captions.

Round six game

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 deviating from Nimzo, which has brought nothing but trouble to Ushenina b6 4.g3 Bb7 this would be the first time Hou Yifan has tried this move. Usually she goes for the more popular 4...Ba6. Seems like suprising the opponent early on is the theme of the match. 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.Nh4 9.Ng5 h6 10.Nxd5 10.h4 has been tried by Grischuk and Ponomariov, but doesn't lead to much after Na6 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.cxd5 Bd6 and it's not easy for White to castle 10...Bxd5 11.cxd5 hxg5 12.d6 Nc6 13.dxe7 Qxe7 14.Bxg5 d5 with a playable position for both sides 9...Nc6 9...b5 has been tried several times 10.cxd5 b4 11.Nf5 d6 11...bxc3?! 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.d6 12.Ne4 Nxd5 13.0-0 and White has good compensation for the pawn since the d6 pawn is a huge weakness and it's hard for Black to untangle 10.cxd5 Nd4 11.Qd1 Ne8 12.Nf3 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 d6 14.0-0 Nc7 15.a4 a6 all of this has been played before and it looks like that White didn't achieve anything out of the opening 16.Rb1 16.Qb3 going after the b6 pawn can lead to trouble Qd7 17.Qxb6 Rab8 18.Qa5 Bd8 and the white queen can't be very comfortable 16...Bf6 now we have a Benoni like position where Black is going to get in b5 and the d6 weakness is not easy to target 17.Bd2 a little too passive, but Ushenina is probably hoping to get in b4 somehow 17.Bf4 is a better square of the bishop 17...b5 18.axb5 Nxb5?! I don't see what's wrong with the simple 18...axb5 this looks like a dream Benoni position with the open a-file and no threats to Black's position 19.b4 c4 and now it's hard for white to take advantage of the weakness of the c6 square, since it's not clear how the Knight will reach d4. Black has the simple idea of Qd7, Ra3 and doubling the rooks ont he a file. 19.Bg2 Bc8 20.Ne4 Re8 21.Nxf6+ no need to rush with this capture. The Bishop is not going anywhere. White can better prepare with 21.Re1 first 21...Qxf6 22.e4 a5 23.Ra1 Bd7 it's still easier to play with Black. If White's b pawn gets traded with the a pawn, the c pawn will become a strong passed pawn. White's Bishop pair is irrelevant in this position since the g2 Bishop is locked in by her own pawns 24.Ra2 Anna doesn't want to allow the trade so easily 24.Rxa5 Qxb2 24...a4 25.Re1 h6 26.Be3 a3 27.Qd2 27.bxa3?? Nc3 27...axb2 28.Rxb2 Nc3 29.f3 Ra3 30.Bf2 Nb5 31.Reb1 31.f4 now the g2 Bishop can move 31...c4 32.Rxb5 Bxb5 33.Bd4?? going for activity, but alas missing the Black's move 33.Qb4 Ra2 34.Qxb5 Rxe4 35.Rf1 Ree2 36.Qxc4 Qb2 37.Qc8+ Kh7 38.Qf5+ and everything holds together tactically 33.Rxb5?? Ra1+ 34.Bf1 Qxf3 and the combination of the strong c4 pawn, White's vulnerable King and the weakness of White's pawns is going to be devastating 33...c3-+ 34.Qf2 Qg5 35.f4 35.Rxb5 Qc1+ 36.Bf1 Qd1 and the c pawn runs 35...Qg4 36.Re1 Rea8 37.h3 Qc8 38.e5 Ra1 39.exd6 c2 40.Bxa1 The World Champion made her 40th move on the board but lost on time. Hou Yifan wins with black for the third time. One more win will clinch her the title with 3 rounds to go! It will be interesting to see what Ushenina is going to try next 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ushenina-Hou Yifan-0–12013E17

Tatev Abrahamyan

Born in 1988 in Yerevan, Armenia, the Women's Grandmaster now lives in Glendale, California and is one of the strongest players in the American women's olympic team.

After graduating in 2011 from California State University, Long Beach with a double major in psychology and political science, Tatev focused on becoming a full time chess professional. She recently scored her second IM norm and is already qualified for the next Women's World Championship

Lost on time in a lost position: the clock at the end of game six

Game six impressions and interviews

 

Information and pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich, FIDE Press Officer

Score

Players Rtng
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
 Tot.
Anna Ushenina 2500
0
½
0
½
½
0
1.5
Hou Yifan 2609
1
½
1
½
½
1
4.5

Schedule

 
10th September Opening Ceremony
11th September Game 1
12th September Game 2
13th September Rest day
14th September Game 3
15th September Game 4
16th September Rest day
17th September Game 5
18th September Game 6
19th September Rest day
 
20th September Game7
21st September Game 8
22nd September Rest day
23rd September Game 9
24th September Rest day
25th September Game 10
26th September Rest day
27th September Tiebreak Games
28th September Closing Ceremony

Links

The games will be 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.
Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.