Month: March 2016

A crisp 32-move victory over reigning Women’s World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk helped GM Hou Yifan grab an early lead in this 10-game match for the title of the Women’s World Champion.

The second round game, just like the first one, took off with the opening moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6. However, Hou Yifan chose to wheel in the ever-popular Ruy Lopez as opposed to Mariya’s Closed Guico in the first game. In reply, Mariya opted for the trendy Open Ruy Lopez. The opening battle ended pretty much in equality.

Immediately after the opening, Hou Yifan willingly accepted a doubling of her f-pawns, thus creating some interesting chances on the King-side. However, Mariya’s passive play allowed the Chinese GM to breakthrough favourably on all parts of the board. On the ensuing moves, Mariya made one mistake after another and her position crumbled. As such, she decided to call it a day on move 32, resulting in Hou Yifan going 1.5-0.5 up in the match.

The 3rd game of the match will be played on 5th March. Today is a rest day.

The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship 2016 took off yesterday in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Reigning Women’s World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk is taking on the highest-rated active female player GM Hou Yifan in a match of 10 games. Being the winner of the last Grand Prix cycle, Hou Yifan has gained the right to challenge Mariya for the top laurel in Women’s Chess.

The first game turned out to be a peaceful one. Playing the white side of the Closed Guico Piano opening, Mariya was unable to challenge Hou Yifan’s solid position by any means. With lots of pieces exchanged and a lifeless Queen endgame on board, the players decided to shake hands on move 31.

The second game, to be played today, will witness the two players facing each other with colours reversed.