WWCC R08: Draw, Hou Yifan retains World Championship title
11/24/2011 – The eighth game was the third Ragozin in this match. Challenger Humpy Koneru, in a must-win situation, came out of the opening with a small advantage, which she started to lose around move 22, after which her opponent took control. A draw was agreed on move 29, which means that Chinese GM Hou Yifan is the old (though just 17) and new World Champion. Congratulations Yifan, great show!
The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship Match between the current World Champion Hou Yifan of China and her challenger, Koneru Humpy of India, was staged in the Triana International Hotel from November 14 to 30. The time control was 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 was the first player to reach 5.5 points or more – which turned out to be the title holder Hou Yifan after eight games. The prize fund was 200,000 Euro, with 60% going to the winner.
Game eight
Arbiter Panagiotis Nikolopoulos starts the clock for what would be the final
game
It's another Ragozin, with Humpy in a must-win situation
The ladies sink into thought...
A disappointing result in this game and the match for Humpy
A remarkable +3 result for the 17-year-old Yifan
Can hardly believe it: Yifan's mother Wang Qian
Beatriz Marinello (Appeals Committee) and Carol Jarecki (arbiter)
You can replay all eight games of the match, with Let's Check evaluation profiles below the board to give you a quick overview of what transpired (click to jump to critical positions). Note that gaps in the evaluations do not mean that an advantage was suddenly lost and regained, but simply that for instance the move was executed quickly and the computers of the kibitzing public were not able to upload a reasonable evaluation into the cloud. Select from the drop-down list on the left.
Final 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 |
½ |
5.5 |
2736 |
+18 |
||
| Koneru Humpy | 2600 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
2.5 |
2442 |
–18 |
Remaining schedule
The match is over, the winner is known, the final two games will not be played. The closing ceremony will be held as scheduled on the 30th of November. Until then the players have a few days to explore Tirana and Albania.
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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