3/2/2016 – The Champion, Mariya Muzychuk, has the white pieces in the first game of this Championship, which starts at 3 p.m. local time (2 p.m. CET, 8 a.m. NY). While you are waiting for that to happen, or watching the start of the game live on out news page, you can enjoy pictures from the opening ceremony that took place last night in the packed Lviv Opera House. Very nice indeed, with no effort spared.
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Women's World Chess Championship – Opening in Lviv
The Women’s World Chess Championship Match 2016 between the current World Champion Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine and Challenger Hou Yifan of China (former World Champion 2010-2012, 2013-2015) takes place in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 1-18, 2016. The first game is scheduled to start at 3 pm local time on 2nd of March 2016. You can watch the games live in our broadcast window at the bottom of this page.
First on the schedule was the inspection of the playing venue in Potocki Palace, where the
players checked the chairs, table and light in the playing hall (watch it in the video above)
After that the particpants proceeded to the Lviv Opera House for the opening ceremony
Challenger Hou Yifan and Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk on the stage
The drawing of colours: Yfan got black and Muzychuk white in the first game
This was followed by a dramatic live performance of the Zhyttya Ballet ...
... with some chess themed passages ...
... and some most certainly not.
Packed full to the rafters: the Lviv Opera House during the opening ceremony
The audience was also treated to some virtuoso violin play ...
... and Khrystyna Soloviy, a young singer, member of Ukrainian version of “Voice” TV-show,
whom you can listen to in this enchanting folk song video.
Lovin' it – Mariya Muzychuk in the audience ...
... and her Chinese challenger Hou Yifan
Schedule
March 2
Wednesday
15:00
Game 1
March 3
Thursday
15:00
Game 2
March 4
Friday
Day Off
March 5
Saturday
15:00
Game 3
March 6
Sunday
15:00
Game 4
March 7
Monday
Day Off
March 8
Tuesday
15:00
Game 5
March 9
Wednesday
15:00
Game 6
March 10
Thursday
Day Off
March 11
Friday
15:00
Game 7
March 12
Saturday
15:00
Game 8
March 13
Sunday
Day Off
March 14
Monday
15:00
Game 9
March 15
Tuesday
Day Off
March 16
Wednesday
15:00
Game 10
March 17
Thursday
Day Off
March 18
Friday
15:00
Tie-break games
March 18
Friday
18:00
Closing Ceremony
All games start at 3 p.m. local time, which is an hour ahead of European time, two ahead of Britain, and seven ahead of New York. You can find the starting time at your location here.
Women's World Chess Championship 2016 live broadcast
When the games are running, clicking on the above link will take you to our live broadcast. It is free and open to all – as a Premium Account member you have access to the Live Book, Chat, chess engine analysis – all in your browser, on a notebook, tablet or even your smartphone. And the Let's Check function will show you what the most powerful computers in the world think of the current position, as each move is being played.
In the live broadcast below, on the side of each board is an evaluation meter, showing you which side is better. The small "x" button on the top right of each board will remove it from the broadcast. If you remove two games you will have four larger boards. Removing four will give you two even larger boards, and removing five will give you just one very large board. Refresh the page (Ctrl-R) to return to the six most popular boards.
You can also click the "+" and "–" icons at the bottom right of the broadcast window to increase and decrease the number of boards. There are other functions: you can download PGNs of the running games and even start an engine by clicking the robot button (third from left).
Note that you can view moves and statistics in the opening (with the Live Book switched on) and even analyse on the boards while the games are being broadcast, by moving pieces and using the engine – best in multiple line mode.
Is there a better way to follow the games?
It may interest you to know that you can use the same broadcast service above on your blog or web site.
It is simply a matter of copying and pasting a line or two of code. Try it out: instructions are here.
The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Frederic FriedelEditor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
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