WWCC R07: Hou Yifan wins again, now has three-point lead

by ChessBase
11/23/2011 – This is very bitter for the Indian challenger, GM Humpy Koneru, the second highest rated player in the history of the game. In game seven she lost to the World Champion (and world number three) GM Hou Yifan, who is all of 17 years old. With three games to go the score is now 5:2, which means Humpy must win them all to draw even. Illustrated report with GM commentary.
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.

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 seven

The reigning women's world champion Hou Yifan had the white pieces. Challenger Humpy Koneru managed to equalize in a Ruy Lopez that was played for the third time in the match. But in the middle game the challenger started to take risks and gave her opponent a chance to win a pawn. This was immediately grabbed by Hou Yifan, and in the endgame the Chinese player got another, enough to secure her victory. The game was analysed for us by GM Alejandro Ramirez.


World Champion Hou Yifan waiting for the start of game seven


The challenger, second strongest female player in history, Humpy Koneru of India


The wonder girl from China, just 17 years old


Arbiter Carol Jarecki starts the clock and the game

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Qd7 In one of the tabiyas of chess: Humpy decides to try something different. This move isn't bad, it's just quite strange. It's not new either, but I don't see any recent GM examples with it. It has the potential to transpose to a rare but somewhat tried line if she plays Bb7 soon, but she postpones it for a few moves. Black might just be trying to get out of theory quickly to try to complicate the issue, as a win for Black seems necessary in this match situation. 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a3 I actually quite like this decision. White protects her bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal now that it can't be challenged by a bishop on e6. Further, she safeguards herself on the queenside and keeps her options open. 12.a4 was also good. 12...Bb7 13.d5 13.Ba2 by transposition would have been Karjakin-Sokolov, 2010 13...Ne7 14.Nf1 Ng6 15.N3h2 This kind of knight dance is typical for the close structure of the Ruy Lopez. Trading Ns on g4 can prove to be unfavorable for Black, as the opening of the h-file should not be underestimated. c6 16.Bg5 Be7 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.Ng3 Nf4 19.Bxf6! Bxf6 20.Nh5 The pair of bishops hold no power, and especially the bishop on f6 cannot help the defense of key squares like f5 and h5. Qe7 21.Qf3 Bg5 22.Rad1 Ne6 23.Ng4 Rf8 24.Ne3 Bxe3 Almost forced - Black has to regain some light-square control. 25.Qxe3 25.Rxe3 was also interesting, but allows 25... f5!? Yifan will have none of that. 25...Rad8 26.Ng3 g6 27.Rd2 h5 28.Qh6 Black has simply not found the counterplay she was hoping for when she went for this odd line of the Ruy Lopez. Hou holds a slight but undisputed advantage and Black can't do much more than watch. If White wants to trade pieces, Black will have little choice. Nf4 29.Ne2 Qf6?! 29...Ne6 30.Ng3 would have forced Black into giving White a stable advantage or repeating moves, something I'm sure Yifan would have been quite happy with. 30.Nxf4 exf4 31.Rd3! The pawn on f4 is too difficult to defend. Black gets some slight piece activity but nowhere near a pawn's worth. Rfe8 32.Rf3 Rd7 33.Rxf4 Qg7 34.Qg5 Re5 35.Qg3 Rde7 36.Rd1 g5 Not match desperation, simply positional desperation. There was little else to do in this position. 37.Rf5 Bxe4 38.Rxe5 Qxe5 39.Rxd6 Qxg3 40.fxg3 This endgame is far from hopeless. Actually Black has many defensive resources: g2 is weak, she has a fair amount of activity and overall things are not all that bad, despite the pawn deficit. However, winning this endgame is an impossible fantasy, and in a situation where you desperately need a win there isn't anything harder psychologically than to grovel for a draw. Bb7?+- 40...a5 was a better try 41.Rb6?! a4 42.Ba2 Bd3 is ok for Black. 41.Kf2?!± Kg7?+- 42.Bd1 h4?± 43.gxh4 gxh4 44.Rd4 Be4 45.Bf3 Bxf3 46.Kxf3 Re1 47.Rxh4?!+- Now it's two pawns... Rb1?± 48.Rb4 Kf6?+- 49.Ke3 Ke5?± 50.Re4+ Kd5?+- 51.Rd4+ Ke5 52.Rd2 f5 53.Kd3 Kf4 54.Rf2+ Kg3?!+- 55.Rxf5 Rxb2 56.Rg5+ Kh4 57.Rg6?+- a5 58.Rg4+?± Kh5 59.Re4 59.a4 bxa4 60.Rxa4 Rxg2 61.Rxa5+ Kg6 62.Re5 is a win even without the h3 pawn. 59...Kg6 60.Re2?± Rb3?+- 61.Ra2 b4 62.axb4 axb4 63.Rc2 Ra3 64.Kd4?!± bxc3 65.Rxc3 This endgame is hopeless for Black. White just has to rearrange her pieces in such a way that they support the pawns. Black can't prevent this. Ra2 66.Rg3+ Kh5 67.Ke3 Ra3+?± 68.Kf2 Ra2+ 69.Kg1 Ra1+?+- 70.Kh2! Ra2 71.Rd3 Ra5??+- 72.Rd4 Rb5?+- 73.h4 Rb3?+- 74.g3 Rb1 75.Kh3?+- Rh1+ 76.Kg2 Ra1?+- 77.Rd5+ Kh6 78.Kh3 Ra3 All White has to do is rinse and repeat, push the h-pawn, prepare to push the g-pawn. Nothing Black can do about it. 79.Re5 Ra4?+- 80.Re3 Ra6?+- 81.g4 Ra1 82.Re6+ Kg7 83.h5 Rh1+ 84.Kg3?+- Rf1 85.Kh4 Rf7 86.Kg5 Kh7 87.h6 Ra7 88.Kh5 Rb7 89.g5 Rb5 90.Re7+ Kg8 91.Kg6 Rb6+ 92.Kf5 Rb5+ 93.Kf6 Rb6+ 94.Re6 Rb8 95.g6 Kh8 96.Re5 Ra8 97.Kg5 It's possible that Humpy didn't have to play the last 40 moves or so, but it's very difficult to admit defeat as it is almost certain that Yifan will be able to hold at least one draw in the next three games, giving her the Championship. Another clean effort by the Chinese player who played good, logical chess. 1–0
  • 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
Hou Yifan2578Koneru,H26001–02011C92Womens World Championship 20117


Press chief WGM Anastasiya Karlovich discusses the games with Yifan and Humpy


Yifan analysing with Fritz 13 in the press conference...


... after which her second GM Ye Jiangchuan speaks to the Chinese media

Score

Players
Rating
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
Perf.
+/–
Hou Yifan
2578
½
½
1
½
½
1
1
5.0
2759
+17
Koneru Humpy  
2600
½
½
0
½
½
0
0
2.0
2419
–17

Remaining schedule

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   

The eighth game, on Thursday, November 24, may decide the competition, e.g. if it ends in a draw of a win for Hou Yifan. The Chinese girl would then have 5.5 points and keep her World Champion title. Humpy Koneru needs to will all three remaining games to equalise the score and force a tie-break.

Photos and news from Tirana by WGMs Anastasiya Karlovich
and Anna Burtasova, with kind permission of FIDE

Links

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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Copyright ChessBase

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.