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.