By Bill Wall: Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan
by Bill Wall
Hou Yifan
(pronounced ho-yee-
fan) was born on
February 27, 1994 in
Xinghua, Jiangsu,
China. Her father, Hou
Xuejian, was a
magistrate and her
mother, Wang Qian,
was a nurse. Hou
Yifan is the way the
Chinese say her name. Bill Wall
The Western way is
Yifan Hou.
In 1997, at the age of

3, her father bought Pawn promotions are
GM Hou Yifan her a chess set and she frequently an integral
became fascinated part of Queen and pawn
with the pieces. endings.
5, her father hired a
chess teacher,
International Master
Tong Yuanming
(1972- ), to coach her.
He won the Chinese
championship in
1993.

6, Hou Yifan began to
play chess regularly.
Hou was
homeschooled and
studied chess.
In 2003, the family

moved to Beijing to be
closer to the top chess
academies.

9, Hou played against
GM Ye Jiangchuan
(1960 - ), the chief
coach of the Chinese
National men's and
women's teams. Hou
became the youngest
member of the
national team. Ye was
awarded the FIDE
Senior Trainer title in
2005.
In August-September
2003, Hou played in
her first tournament,
the Chinese Team
Chess Championship.
She scored 3 out of 7
with a 2246
performance rating.
In October-November
2003, she took 1st
place at the World
Youth Championship
for girls under age 10,
held in Halkdiki,
Greece. She won 8
games, drew 3, and
lost none.
In November 2003,
she played in the
Chinese National
Women's Chess
Championship and
took 14th place. She
scored 3.5 out of 9 and
a performance rating
of 2202.
On January 1, 2004,
her first published
rating was 2168,
which automatically
qualified her for the
title of Woman FIDE
Master (rated over
2100).
In 2004, she was

admitted to the
Chinese National
Chess Center in
Beijing. Her trainers
were GM Ye
Jiangchuan and GM
Yu Shaoteng.
In November 2004,
she tied for 1st place
in the boys' under-10
section of the World
Youth Championship,
held in Heraklio,
Crete. She scored 9
out of 11, winning 8
games, drawing 2, and
losing 1.
In December 204, she

took 11th place in the
11th Asian Women's
Championship, held in
Beirut, Lebanon. Her
performance rating
was 2278.
In April 2005, she

took 5th place at the 3
Arrows Cup ladies
tournament in Junan,
China. In that
tournament, she
defeated IM Almira
Skripchenko and had a
performance rating of
2393.
In July 2005, she took

5th place in the Boys'
Under-12 section of
the World Youth
Chess Championship,
held in Belfort,
France.
In October 2005, at the

age of 11, she
qualified for the World
Women's Chess
Championship after
winning the Chinese
Women's Zonal
tournament. Her
performance rating in
that event was 2526.
In March 2006, Hou

reached the 3rd round
of the Women's World
Chess Championship,
defeating an
and a Woman
Grandmaster. Her
performance rating
was 2504.
In May-June 2006, she

played Board 4 on the
Chinese women's team
at the 37th Chess
Olympiad in Turin,
Italy. She won a silver
medal for her board.
Her performance
rating for this event
was 2596.
In June-July 2006, she

took 4th place in the
Chinese women's
championship.
In October 2006, at
age 12, she tied for 1st
(losing on tiebreak) in
the Girls' section of
the World Junior
Chess Championship,
held in Yerevan,
Armenia. She had a
2469.

12, she was awarded
the Woman
Grandmaster title.
In May 2007, she won

a gold medal playing
Board 2 in the 1st
World Women's Team
Chess Championship,
held in Ekaterinburg,
Russia.
In June 2007, at age

13, she became
China's youngest ever
national champion,
winning the Chinese
Women's Chess
Championship. She
won 7 games, drew 4,
and lost none, for a
2585 performance
rating.
In September 2007,
she took 1st place in
the Chinese Women's
zonal tournament. She
scored 7 wins and 2
draws, with a 2675
performance rating.
In October-November
2007, she won a gold
medal on Board 2 in
the 2nd Asian Indoor
Games team
tournament. She won
5 and drew 1 for a
2649.
In March 2008, she

won the 1st Ataturk
International Women
Masters Chess
Tournament in
Istanbul, scoring 7 out
of 9. Her performance
rating was 2674.
In June 2008, she won

the Chinese Women's
Championship for the
second consecutive
time.
In August 2008, she

tied for 3rd place in
the boys' section of the
World Junior Chess
Gazientep, Turkey.
She was the only girl
in the boy's section
and had a performance
rating of 2661. She
qualified for the
grandmaster title at the
age of 14 years, 6
months, and 2 days.
She is the youngest
female GM in history
and the 27th Chinese
Grandmaster.
In August-September
2008, she competed in
here second Women's
World Chess
Nalchik, Russia. She
lost the finals match to
Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Hou became the
youngest ever finalist
for the Women's
World Championship
title at the age of 14.
She also earned the
(IM) title. Her
performance rating
was 2536.
In March 2009, she

took 3rd place in the
FIDE Women's Grand
Prix Tournament in
Istanbul
In April 2010, she won

the Kuala Lumpur
Open, scoring 6 wins
and 2 draws. Her
performance rating
was 2730.
In August 2010, she

won the Women's
Grand Prix in
Mongolia.
In November 2010,
she won the women's
individual gold medal
at the 16th Asian
Games in Guangzhou,
China. She scored 8.5
out of 9 with a
2798.
In December 2010,
she won the Women's
World Chess
Hatay, Turkey,
making her the
youngest women's
world champion in
history at the age of
16. She defeated Ruan
Lufei in the finals.
Prior to Hou, Maia
Chiburdanidze was the
youngest women's
world champion at age
17 when she won the
title in 1978. Hou's
win earned her China
Central Television's
2010 award for
Sportsperson of the
Year involved in a
sport that is not
included in the
Olympic category, and
her title win qualified
her for participation in
the World Cup 2011.
In April 2011, she won

the 1st Women Master
Tournament in Wuxi,
China, scoring 7 out of
9 and a performance
rating of 2639.
In August 2011, she

won the FIDE
Women's Grand Prix,
held in Rostov,
Russia.
In September 2011,
she won the second
Grand Prix stage, held
in Shenzhen, China.
In November 2011,
she defended her
women's world
champion title,
winning the Women's
World Championship,
held in Tirana,
Albania. She defeated
Koneru Humpy,
winning 3 games and
drawing 5 games.
Hou's performance
rating was 2741,
In January 2012, she

tied for 1st at the
Gibraltar Chess
Festival with a
2872. She lost on
tiebreak games to
Nigel Short.
In July 2012, she won

the 5th leg of the FIDE
Women's Grand Prix,
held in Jermuk,
Armenia.
In August-September
2012, she won the
gold medal for
women's Board 1 at
the 40th Chess
Olympiad, held in
Istanbul.
In September, 2012,
Hou started studying
International Relations
at the University of
Beijing.
In November 2012,
she was knocked out
in the 2nd round of the
Women's World Chess
Khanty Mansiysk,
Russia. The event was
won by Anna
Ushenina of the
Ukraine.
In September, 2013,
Hou defeated Anna
Ushenina in a match
for the Women's
World Chess
Taizhou, Jiangsu,
China. She scored 5.5-
1.5 to regain her
championship title.
In August 2014, she

won the silver medal
on Board 1 of the
Chinese Women's
team in the 41 Chess
Olympiad, held in
Tromso, Norway.
In October 2014, she
took 1st place in the
Corsican Chess
Circuit, defeating GM
Sergey Fedorchuk in
the final.
At the end of 2015,

20-year-old Hou Yifan
was the reigning
Women's World Chess
Champion, the 2nd
highest rated female
(behind Judit Polgar),
the highest rated girl
(under 21), the 4th
highest rated junior,
and ranked 71 in the
world (men and
women include) with a
rating of 2673.
In January-February,
2015, she tied for 3rd
place at the Gibraltar
Chess Festival, scoring
7.5 out of 10. She had
a performance rating
of 2772 and a FIDE
rating of 2686. Her
rating passed Judit
Polgar for the first
time, ending Judit's 26
consecutive years
reign as the top rated
female player in the
world.
In March 2015, Hou

decided not to defend
her world
championship title and
played in the Hawaii
Grandmaster
Challenge instead (she
had already committed
to this event). She won
the event and Mariya
Muzychuk won the
2015 Women's World
Chess Championship,
held in Sochi, Russia.
In April 2015, Hou

reached her highest
rating to date, 2686.
She was then ranked
#59 in the world.
In September-October
2015, she played in the
Chess World Cup in
Baku. She lost in the
2nd round and had a
2685.
October 2015, was the

original date for the
Women's World Chess
Championship match
between Hou Yifan
and Mariya
Muzychuk, but
Muzychuk proposed to
delay the dates due to
other tournament
conflicts. FIDE agreed
without asking Hou's
opinion, who was in
school and needed
time to study. She was
working on a
university thesis on
Mao's Cultural
Revolution of the
1960s.
In October 2015, she
won the first leg of the
FIDE Women's Grand
Prix, held in Monte
Carlo.
In February 2016, she

was supposed to play a
chess match against
IM Cristobal
Henriquez Villagra of
Chile in Antarctica,
but the weather did not
cooperate. It would
have been the first
FIDE rated game in
Antarctica. The match
was played in Punta
Arenas, near the
southern tip of Chile.
Hou won the match
with 2 wins, 1 draw,
and 1 loss.
On March 1-18, 2016,

Hou Yifan (rated
2667) reclaimed the
Women's World Chess
Championship title
when she defeated
Mariya Muzychuk
(rated 2563), held in
Lviv, Ukraine
(Muzychuk's home
town). She won 3
games and drew 6
games with a
2685. The prize fund
was decreased from
300,000 Euros (the
original bid) to the
minimum of 200,000
Euros. The money was
split, 60% going to the
winner and 40% going
to the loser. During the
match, Muzychuk
complained that Hou
was wearing jeans and
against the dress code
(there was no dress
code in the contract).
Muzychuk also
complained that Hou's
bottled oil smelled bad
and disturbed her
thinking. Hou never
actually opened her
bottle of oil. This
Women's World Chess
Championship was
played in a small room
at the Potocki Palace
and allowed no
spectators. The room
was part of an art
gallery. Main arbiter
Carol Jarecki had one
painting removed
titled "Chronos
disarms Cupid." She
felt that a naked Cupid
was not appropriated
to appear in any photo
of the match. There
was a half hour game
broadcast transmission
delay after every chess
move as part of FIDE
anti-cheating
measures. There were
also metal detectors
and the Chinese team
wanted mobile phone
blockers. However,
phone jamming was
illegal in the Ukraine
and not implemented.
Hou has now played 3

world championship
10-game matches
(against Koneru,
Ushenina, and
Muzychuk) without
losing a single game
and has won the title
four times.
In May 2016, Hou

dropped out of the
current Women's
World Championship
cycle. She objected to
the format of a
knockout tournament
and then a match. She
compared the 64-
player knockout
system to a lottery.
In June 2016, Hou

only scored 2.5 out of
9 at the Gashimov
Memorial Chess
Tournament. Her
rating fell to 2653 and
she was no longer in
the top 100 chess
player list (#105 in the
world). Her rapid
rating is 2631 and her
blitz rating is 2704.
She is rated almost
100 points higher than
the 2nd highest rated
female (Humpy
Koneru — rated
2575).
Return to Main Page
Please
report broken or duplic
ate links to
the Webmaster.
Official Website
Copyright 2015 by
William D. Wall
All Rights Reserved

By Bill Wall: Hou Yifan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

By Bill Wall: Hou Yifan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

By Bill Wall: Hou Yifan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hou Yifan

In 1997, at the age of

In 2000, at the age of

In 2003, the family

In 2003, at the age of

In 2004, she was

In December 204, she

In April 2005, she

In July 2005, she took

In October 2005, at the

In March 2006, Hou

In May-June 2006, she

In June-July 2006, she

In 2007, at the age of

In May 2007, she won

In June 2007, at age

In March 2008, she

In June 2008, she won

In August 2008, she

In March 2009, she

In April 2010, she won

In August 2010, she

In April 2011, she won

In August 2011, she

In January 2012, she

In July 2012, she won

In August 2014, she

At the end of 2015,

In March 2015, Hou

In April 2015, Hou

October 2015, was the

In February 2016, she

On March 1-18, 2016,

Hou has now played 3

In May 2016, Hou

In June 2016, Hou

You might also like