WWCC R03: Hou Yifan draws first blood
11/18/2011 – Playing with the white pieces, the challenger Koneru Humpy of India got a good position from the opening, but she was not, in her own words, making good moves. The reigning world champion Hou Yifan from China, took heart (and a pawn on a2) and overran her opponent with a precision that belies her age. Hou now leads 2-1 in this ten-game match. Game three commentary by GM Alejandro Ramirez.
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The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship Match between the current World Champion Hou Yifan of China and her challenger, Koneru Humpy of India, is being staged in the Triana International Hotel from November 14 to 30. 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 winner of the ten-game match is the first player to reach 5.5 points or more. The prize fund is 200,000 Euro, with 60% going to the winner. The games start at 15:00h local time, which is also Central European Time = 17:00 Moscow, 19:30 New Delhi, 22:00h Beijing and 09:00 New York. You can find the starting time for other locations here.
Game three – Hou Yifan takes the lead
In the third game of the match for the World Championship the rested participants entered into an intense and sharp struggle. Humpy Koneru, who had the white pieces, came out of the opening with the slight advantage. Chinese GM Hou Yifan, though, was precise in her queenside and center activity, which opened a path for a win for her. “I took time to think about taking the pawn on a2,” said Yifan after the game, “My king could get in trouble, but I decided to go for this principal continuation.”
“I had a good position, but I wasn't making good moves,” commented Humpy on her handling of the middlegame. The World champion did not let her opponent off the hook, and her only mistake was on move 25, when she could have finish it off quickly with the tricky move 25...Rd8! After the game Hou Yifan confessed that she had missed this move. We bring you analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez.
The 17-year-old Chinese Women's World Champion drew first blood
Humpy: “I had a good position, but I wasn't making good moves.”
Score
| Players | Rating |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
Tot. |
Perf |
+/– |
| Hou Yifan | 2578 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
2 |
2720 |
+6 |
|||||||
| Koneru Humpy | 2600 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
2458 |
–6 |
Remaining schedule
| Friday | 18 November 2011 | Game four |
| Saturday | 19 November 2011 | Rest day |
| Sunday | 20 November 2011 | Game five |
| Monday | 21 November 2011 | Game six |
| Tuesday | 22 November 2011 | Rest day |
| Wednesday | 23 November 2011 | Game seven |
| Thursday | 24 November 2011 | Game eight |
| Friday | 25 November 2011 | Rest day |
| Saturday | 26 November 2011 | Game nine |
| Sunday | 27 November 2011 | Rest day |
| Monday | 28 November 2011 | Game ten |
| Tuesday | 29 November 2011 | Rest day |
| Wednesday | 30 November 2011 | Tie-break, closing |
Photos and news from Tirana by WGMs Anastasiya Karlovich
and Anna Burtasova, with kind permission of FIDE
LinksThe 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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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