Hou Yifan regains world title

Hou Yifan, trumpeted by me in January during her performance in the Tata Steel Tournament, has regained her world title after defeating her Ukrainian opponent,  Mariya Muzychuk (pictured with Hou on the right) 6-3. Hou won three games and drew the others, finally winning the match after Mariya pushed too hard for a win in Game 9 in order to force the match into a tenth game. Hou is now both the world champion and number one female player in the world.  Although the winning game was Game 9, the crucial victory for Hou was Game 6, one where Mariya had good chances but where defeat left her two points behind with only four games to go.

   1.  e4  e5  2.  Nf3  Nc6  3.  Bc4  Bc5  4.  O-O  Nf6  5.  d3  d6  6.  c3  O-O 7.  Bg5  h6  8.  Bh4  g5  9.  Bg3  g4  10.  Nh4  Nh5  11.  a4  a6  12.  Na3 Qg5  13.  Nc2  Ba7  14.  Ne3  Ne7  15.  d4  Qg7  16.  de5  de5 17.  Nef5  Bf5  18.  ef5  Bc5  19.  Re1  Ng3  20.  hg3  Kh8  21.  Qe2 Bd6  22.  Qe4  Rab8  23.  Be2  h5  24.  Rad1  Ng8  25.  Kh2  Qg5 26.  Bc4  Nf6  27.  Qe3  Qe3  28.  Re3  e4  29.  Re2  Rbd8  30.  Bb3 Rd7  31.  f3  Re8  32.  Rde1  Rde7  33.  Bc2  ef3  34.  Re7  Re7 35.  Re7  f2  36.  Rf7  f1Q  37.  Ng6  Kg8  38.  Rf6  Bc5