Women's World Championship in Tirana
Hou Yifan almost there!
| Hou Yifan needs only half-a-point more |
 The seven games (7 ko)
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In the seventh match game Humpy Koneru played the Zaitsev variation in the Spanish. Despite the choice of a relatively active choice, World Champion Hou Yifan kept control throughout. Indeed she picked off one pawn towards the time control and a second one shortly afterwards. The technical phase took time, but Hou Yifan's third victory was always inevitable.
So summing up the seventh match game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 1-0 | Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 97 | Spanish Zaitsev |
So Hou Yifan now leads by three points with only three games to go:
| Name | Rating | Country | Age | Highest ever rating | World rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan | 2578 | China | 17 | 2612 (May 2011) | 3 | 5 |
| Humpy Koneru | 2600 | India | 24 | 2623 (July 2009) | 2 | 2 |
The earlier games of the match went as follows:
The first game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 0.5-0.5 | Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 80 | Catalan Opening |
The second game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 0.5-0.5 | Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 42 | Petroff's Defence |
The third game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 0-1 | Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 37 | Queen's Gambit Ragozin |
The fourth game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 0.5-0.5 | Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 58 | Spanish Open |
The fifth game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 0.5-0.5 | Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 58 | Spanish Open |
The sixth game:
| White | Rating | Country | Result | Black | Rating | Country | Moves | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humpy Koneru | 2600 | IND | 0-1 | Hou Yifan | 2578 | CHN | 38 | Nimzoindian Defence |
More information from the World Chess Federation website:
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Published: 23/11/2011 21:55
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