Time to Observe New Things in Other Parts of Life: Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan has said winning the title against Anna Ushenina "was not as easy as people think!" In an interview with Anastasiya Karlovich for the official website, Hou Yifan also said there was so much else to "expand life" for her like her education, life and other interests. She hinted that she might not defend her title next year. Hou Yifan was also all praise for Ushenina even though she blanked out the latter with three wins and four draws.

The closing ceremony of the World Women’s Chess Championship 2013 match was held in the Taizhou Hotel in Taizhou, China on the morning of the 23rd of September.

The distinguished guests, among who were Continental President from Americas Jorge Vega, FIDE Vice President Mr. Nizar Ali Elhaj, FIDE official David Jarett, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, Mrs. Xiao Min, General Secretary of Chinese Chess Assosiation GM Ye Jiangchuan, Delegate & Vice General Secretary Mrs. Abigail TIAN, the organizers and sponsors from “China Medical center” congratulated the new World Champion Hou Yifan and former world champion Anna Ushenina.

Mrs. Xiao Min, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau officially сlosed the Women’s World Championship Match 2013.
Pictures from the closing ceremony.

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Zone 2.3 Chess: Cuban GM Yaniet Marrero earns Entry to Women's World Chess Championship 2014

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Havana, Sep 23 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Grandmaster Yaniet Marrero has won the only place in the Women's World Chess Championship by winning the Zone 2.3 Chess Tournament of America for women. She was the Cuba women's chess champion in 2011. She won the tournament with 7, 5 points which included six wins and three draws. She picked up 23 rating points.

The Zone 2.3 women's chess tournament was played in San Salvador based on the Swiss System with 16 competitors from six countries.


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Women's World Chess Championship 2013: Ushenina's Loss to Yifan due to bad Time management, says Second Khalifman

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The self-destruction of Anna Ushenina at the Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan has been a big disappointment for the Ukrainian Grandmasters' fans. In an interview to Anastasiya Karlovich, one of Ushenina's seconds, Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman blames time management for the major problems.

Anastasiya Karlovich: It remains a mystery for many people still what happened to Anna Ushenina in the Women’s World Championship Match. Please tell us about it. What were the reasons for her defeat?
Alexander Khalifman: We realized that Yifan was the favourite, yet the match was not hopeless. Anna has some weak points, but we thought Anna would be able to keep the balance. Well, what to say, just everything started to fall apart, from the very first game, and it continued later on. It is difficult to estimate what happened. Whether Anna was not psychologically ready for the level of pressure, or something else, but there was one obvious problem she could not solve till the end - her time management. One should not spend so much time! She should have done something with that during the match. 

Actually we should have tried to work on it before the match. I feel it was my fault as well. It became crucial when Yifan. having so many pluses already, could also add such an advantage as Anna’s time troubles in each game. 

And then the third game was played. It was absolutely a terrible day! It is unclear what happened on that day. And yet, the real critical moment in the match was in the fifth game. It was the most important, the most decisive and actually the final one.
If Anna would have taken that unfortunate pawn on h4, I think she would have won this game. We could see that Hou Yifan felt uncomfortable at this point and the time was equal - a rare case during the match. The score could have been 2-3 and Anna could have taken the psychological initiative. The match could have started from the beginning. Of course it's silly to say that Anna would have been the favorite.

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Hou Yifan is Women's World Chess Champion 2013

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

China's Hou Yifan has won the Women’s World Championship by beating Anna Ushenina of Ukraine in seven rounds with a score of 5.5 – 1,5.

The match was to consist of 10 games but Hou Yifan got the decisive 5,5 points in 7 games. In the last, seventh round, Anna Ushenina needed to draw or win to stay in the match, but the Chinese player got stable advantage after the opening and was accurate to not to give chances for her opponent. The closing ceremony will be held on the 23rd of September at 10 a.m. at the Taizhou Hotel. Replay the seventh and other games of the world chess championship 2013 with Chess King.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013: Hou Yifan beats Anna Ushenina again; Extends Lead by 3 Points

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Is this going to be a whitewash at the Women's World Chess Championship 2013? Hou Yifan has won her third game with Black against Anna Ushenina - the reigning Women's World Chess Champion. Yifan needs just one point to win the title she had first won as a 16-year-old. How possible is that Ushenina win at least three of the remaining four games just to stay in the match?

The position became very complex after the opening and as in the previous games Anna had time troubles before the first time control. Hou Yifan masterfully used her chance and went for a sharp continuation. Anna started to make mistakes and her position became lost. The World Champion made the 40th move on the board but lost on time. (Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich)

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Round 5: Hou Yifan draws, Keeps 2-Point Lead over Anna Ushenina

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The fifth game of the Women’s World Chess Championship Match ended in a draw. Challenger Hou Yifan of China had white pieces for the second time in a row and the game steered into the Keres Attack. Anna Ushenina managed to get a promising position, but missed her chances to fight for an advantage. Hou Yifan defended accurately and the game was drawn.


Challenger Hou Yifan continues to hold on to her two point lead in the championship. She has won two games of the five games played so far. All the other three games have been drawn. Official website http://taizhou2013.fide.com/.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Round 4: Hou Yifan holds on to 2-point Lead over Anna Ushenina

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The fourth game of the Women’s World Championship Match finished in a draw. Sicilian, Keres Attack appeared in the game and already after 14 moves the queens were traded. Former World Champion could have tried to create more problems for her opponent to solve but preferred playing without risk and the game finished in a draw after three-time repetition. Every draw brings the challenger closer to her goal, while the World Champion needs to start seeking victories to catch up with Hou Yifan.

After 4 games Hou Yifan is leading with 3 points. Anna Ushenina has 1 point.

On the 16th of September the players have a rest day. The match will continue on the 17th of September. Hou Yifan will have white pieces again. The measure of changing the colors after the fourth game has a goal to prevent the same player to have white pieces after each of the rest days throughout the match because this might give her an advantage in preparation. 

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Women's World Chess Championship Round 3: Hou Yifan Leads by Two Points

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

Former Women's World Chess Champion, Hou Yifan appears to be heading for a one-sided victory as Challenger against reigning Women's World Chess Champion Anna Ushenina.

Hou Yifan won the third game of the Women’s World Championship Match on Saturday and is now two points ahead of Anna Ushenina. The event is being held in Taizhou, China. Although both opponents seemed well-prepared in the sharp line of Nimzo-Indian, Black’s 15...Rc8 forced World Champion to sink into deep thought. 

After 40 minutes Anna Ushenina came up with a dubious decision which turned out to be the start of her troubles. Hou Yifan didn’t miss her chance to fight for initiative, made few very precise decisions and after 24 moves the game was over. You can replay the game with Chess King.

Here is another nice chess video that we recall and you would enjoy watching for sure:

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Anna Ushenina vs Hou Yifan begins in Taizhou, China

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013  

Hi everyone, 

The opening ceremony of the Women's World Chess Championship 2013 between Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and Hou Yifan of China was held at the Taizhou Hotel. Xiao Min, the vice-president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, declared the Women’s World Championship Match open. 

The drawing of the colour for the first game was the important moment of the ceremony. FIDE Vice President Mr. Chu Bo was offered to choose from two red boxes and found the name of Hou Yifan. That meant she was the one to choose from two other boxes which hid black and white queens inside. Hou Yifan got a black queen – this means that the World Champion Anna Ushenina will have white pieces in the first game.

Yang Junan, the President of Chinese Chess Association welcomed everybody to Taizhou and pointed out that Taizhou is a city with chess traditions. “Through years’ development, under the lead of government and chess association, chess in Taizhou is very popular and contributes a lot to the development of chess in China. Here also comes out many excellent chess players among whom Hou Yifan is the outstanding representative. I believe that this event held in Taizhou will further raise the reputation of Taizhou and promote chess in this city,” said Yang Junan.

FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov congratulated everybody with the start of the Match, expressed his gratitude to Ms. Xiao Min, the Vice president of Chinese Olympic Committee and Assistant Director of National Sports Bureau, the Mayor of Taizhou city Mr. Xu Guoping, FIDE Vice-President Mr. Chu Bo, the President of Chinese Chess Association Mr.Yang Junan, for the attention which chess receives here.

After the opening ceremony the Women’s world champion Anna Ushenina, FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov and guests were invited for the excursion to impressive China Medical City.

In the evening the world champion Anna Ushenina and challenger Hou Yifan inspected the playing venue and checked the lighting. The Chief Arbiter Panagiotis Nikolopoulos drew the attention of the participants to time control, "zero tolerance" rule and the absence of any restrictions concerning draw offer. The members of the Appeals Committee Chairman Jorge Vega, David Jarett and FIDE Supervisor Ali Nihat Yazici were introduced to players.

The first game will start at 3 p.m. local time on 11th of September.

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FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship begins Sept 10 in China

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

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 scheduled to start on September 10.

The drawing of colours will be conducted during the opening ceremony which will take place at 3 p.m. The player getting the white colour in game one plays game five with the black pieces). 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. If the scores are level after the regular ten games, after a new drawing of colours, four tie-break games will be played, with 25 minutes for each player and an increment of ten seconds after each move.

If the scores are level after the four rapid games, then, after a new drawing of colours, a match of two games will be played with a time control of five minutes plus three seconds' increment after each move. In case of a level score, another two-game match will be played to determine a winner. If there is still no winner after five such matches (i.e. after ten games), one sudden death game will be played. This involves a drawing of lots, the winner being able to choose the colour. The player with the white pieces receives five minutes, the player with the black pieces four minutes, with an increment of three seconds per move from move 61 on. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

The prize fund for this match is 200,000 Euros and will be split between the players as follows:
60% for the winner and 40% to the loser if the match ends within the 10 regular games. In case the winner is decided by tie-break games, she will receive 55% and loser 45%.

Anna Ushenina holds the title after the 2012 Women's World Chess Championship (knockout format) in Khanty-Mansiysk while Hou Yifan had a right to challenge her after she became first in the Grand Prix Series 2011-2012. 

Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan played their first game in 2006 during World Chess Olympiad (Turin, Italy) and the game ended in a draw. In 2007 another draw was signed during Russian team championship. Hou Yifan took the lead in their encounter in 2007-2008 when she won three games in a row. However, in the end of 2008 Anna Ushenina managed to outplay Chinese prodigy during the European Club Cup. Another draw in 2009 and the players stopped meeting over the board for the next 4 years, till 2013! Anna Ushenina defeated Hou Yifan with black pieces in their last encounter during Geneva Grand Prix.

Games between these two have been consistently hard-fought. Hou Yifan is one point ahead according to overall results. For her part, however, Anna Ushenina played 7 out of 8 games with Black and has victory in their last game at Geneva GP in 2013.

According to FIDE rating Hou Yifan (2609) holds the second position among women after Judit Polgar. Anna Ushenina (2500) is on 17th place.

The official hotel and playing venue: http://www.chunlanhotel.com/
The official website: taizhou2013.fide.com

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013 Anna Ushenina vs Hou Yifan: FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong to Inspect Venue Options

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone,

FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong was appointed by the World Championship & Olympiad Commission to inspect the venue and facilities for the Women’s World Championship between World Champion Anna Ushenina and Grand Prix Winner Hou Yifan. The only bid came from Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, China.

On 26 & 27 April, Mr Leong visited three 4 & 5 hotels as the potential venues for the Match. All 3 choices offer excellent living conditions, variety of cuisine and high level tournament venue facilities. He held two long meetings with the highest ranking officials of the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Sports, the Chinese Chess Association and the Jiangsu Chess Association. After lengthy discussions, a general consensus was reached to have the Match held at the 5-star Taizhou Hotel where the players will also stay. The event is being sponsored by the China Medical City. 

Left to right: Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Sports Deputy Director Mr Wang Jian, Chief Director Mr Ge Zhihui, Deputy Director Mdm Fan Rong with Mr Leong. 

Not in the picture were Chinese Chess Association General Secretary GM Ye Jiangchuan, CCA Vice General Secretary Ms Abigail Tian, Jiangsu Province Chess Association Director IA Tang Jianming and the Chief Financial Director from Taizhou City.

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Women’s World Chess Championship Match 2013 Anna Ushenina - Hou Yifan in Taizhou, China September 10-27

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The Women’s World Championship Match 2013 between the reigning World Champion Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and her challenger Hou Yifan (China) will be organized by the FIDE and Chinese Chess Association on 10-27 September 2013, in the city of Taizhou, China. The winner of the FWWCM 2013 will be declared Women’s World Champion for the period 2013-2014. Hou Yifan, who already was World Champion on 2010-2012, qualified from the FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix 2011-2012.

The match will consist of 10 classical games and if necessary, tie-break games. The time control will be 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.

If the scores are level after the regular ten games, after a new drawing of colors, four tie-break games will be played. The starting time will be 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move. If the scores are level after the rapid games, then, after a new drawing of colors, a match of 2 games will be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. In case of a level score, another 2-game match will be played to determine a winner. If still there is no winner after 5 such matches (total 10 games), one sudden-death game will be played. The prize fund is at least 200,000 EUR net. As the match is being held in the country of one of the players, Anna Ushenina is entitled to receive 5% of the prize fund, after which the remaining sum will further be divided as 60% for the winner and 40% to the loser if the FWWCM ends within the 10 regular games. In case the winner is decided by tie-break games, the winner will receive 55% and the loser 45%. The official website will be fwwcm2013.fide.com, according to a Chessdom.com report.

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Women's World Chess Championship 2013: Fide Releases Details of Bidding Procedure

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

 

BIDDING PROCEDURE FOR THE FIDE WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH 2013

1. The FIDE Presidential Board decided to open a bidding procedure for the FIDE World Women’s Championship Match 2013 between the current World Champion Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) and challenger Hou Yifan (China).

2. Each bid shall contain the following particulars as minimum:

a) Acceptance of exact dates for the event between 10 to 28 September 2013.
b) Proposed venue of the event.
c) Proposed prize fund for the players (minimum 200,000 euros & should be offered net of any applicable local taxes).
d) The contribution to FIDE (net of any applicable local taxes and not less than 20% of the prize money) as stipulated in Article 13.2 as well as the financial obligations stated in Article 14 of the Rules & Regulations of the World Women’s Championship Match 2013.
e) Commitment to cover all the other financial obligations to FIDE, in accordance with the Rules & Regulations of the World Women’s Championship Match 2013.
f) Commitment to cover all organizational costs, in accordance with the match regulations.
g) Category of official hotel (minimum 4- stars), and name if possible, with special room rates for visitors (including meals).
h) A statement that the applicant accepts the regulations of the match without any reservations.
i) An invitation for 2 (two) members of the FIDE Commission for World Chess Championships and Olympiads to inspect the proposed venue and examine the other conditions, with all travel/hotel expenses paid by the bidder.
j) The applicant's name, signatures and authentication.

3. In order for a proposed bid to be considered, it should be accompanied by a 6-month term bank guarantee covering the amount of prize fund (minimum 200,000 euros), the FIDE contribution (20% over and above the prize fund), 5% for the WCOC budget, 5% for the commercial rights (not including live broadcast) and 32,500 euros covering stipends of Principals as described in article 14.5 of the match regulations. This guarantee should be of irrevocable form and from a bank that FIDE bankers, UBS of Switzerland, are able to confirm as acceptable.

Alternatively to the above paragraph, a bidder can deposit in FIDE’s bank account the amount of 100,000 euros by the deadline of 29 March 2013, refundable if the bid is rejected, and the remaining payments will be finalized in the signed contract between FIDE and the organizer(s).

4. A bid is considered valid if it is accompanied with a non-refundable Bid Fee of 1,000 euros payable to FIDE.

5. No bidder can propose a sponsor which shall be in conflict with the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

6. Τhe commercial agency of FIDE (CNC) reserves all rights for the live transmissions of the event and its games. The organiser of the event can have its own website and if the organiser wishes to implement the live transmission of the games, CNC must be consulted beforehand.

7. The bids, including all original documents and particulars, shall arrive by registered post to the FIDE Secretariat, post address: 9 Syggrou Ave., 11743 Athens - Greece. The bidding process will close on 29 March 2013, 13:00 GMT.

8. When the deadline has expired, the FIDE President or his representative shall open the received envelopes in order to assess the bids. FIDE will announce the results within 20 days after the deadline. After the organizer has been selected, FIDE and the organizer shall sign a contract covering the organization of the FWWCM, the terms of payments and all other financial and technical requirements.

9. FIDE reserves the right to accept a bid based on the evaluation of all criteria under article 2 of the present bidding procedure and not only that of the prize fund. FIDE also reserves the right not to award any bid at all, however favourable it might be.

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