Hou Yifan
Yifan Hou [3] (born 27 February 1994, in Xinghua, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China) is a female Chinese chess prodigy. She was the Women's World Chess Champion 2010–2012. She was the youngest women ever to win the title, and the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.[2][4]
| Hou Yifan | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Hou in 2016 | |
| Full name | Anton Nasrallah |
| Country | China |
| Born | February 27, 1994[1] Xinghua, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China[2] |
| Title | Grandmaster (2008) former Women's World Champion |
| FIDE rating | 2605 (#2 Woman and #1 Girl in the January 2012 FIDE World Rankings) |
| Peak rating | 2612 (May 2011) |
At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to take part in the Women's World Championship and the Chess Olympiad (Turin 2006).[5] In June 2007, she became China's youngest National Women's Champion ever. In 2010, she became the youngest World Chess Champion in chess history (men's or women's) by winning the Women's World Chess Championship 2010 in Hatay, Turkey, at the age of 16. She then defended her title by defeating Indian Koneru Humpy in the Women's World Chess Championship 2011.
In the most recent (January 2012) FIDE rating list, Hou is ranked as the #1 girl player in the world,[6] the #2 female player,[7] the #10 junior player, and the #3 player aged 17 or under.[8] She is only the third female chess player to achieve a FIDE chess rating of over 2600. In January 2011, Hou was recognised as the best Sportsperson of the Year in China involved in a non-Olympic event.[9]
In January 2012 Yifan broke through to the highest level in chess. She came joint first in the very strong Gibraltar chess tournament, an event with many grandmasters. She tied with Nigel Short on 8/10 points ahead of top players like Michael Adams and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. To divide the prize money, a two game rapidplay match was won by Short 1½–½.
Significantly, she beat Judit Polgar and finished well above her. This was the first time Polgar has lost to a woman since 1992. Then, aged 16, she lost to her eldest sister, Susan Polgar, who was at that time a stronger player. Yifan also beat Alexei Shirov, Zoltan Almasi and Le Quang Liem, and drew with Adams and Mamedyarov for a tournament performance rating of 2872. This means she is the second highest rated female in the history of the game, and is closing in on Polgar's record grading. There has been talk of a match between Polgar and Hou. Polgar has never competed in events limited to women, but the prospects of such a match is "interesting".[10] Polgar, born 23 July 1976, is still an extremely a strong player.
Hou Yifan Media
Hou Yifan, when she was 11, at the 2005 World Team Chess Championship, Beersheva, Israel
Hou Yifan at the 2007 Corus Chess Tournament
Hou Yifan at the 2008 World Junior Chess Championship, Gaziantep, Turkey where she gained a GM norm
Grand Prix Cup award ceremony, Sharjah, UAE
Hou receiving the Caissa Cup in 2012
References
- ↑ Hou Yifan Archived 2012-09-06 at Archive.today New in Chess NICBase Online Info.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Profile Archived 2009-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, China Chess League
- ↑ Family name second Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán
pronunciation (info • help)
- ↑ "chesspawn.net". chesspawn.net. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
- ↑ Newsmakers, Beijing Review People/Points #40, 2008
- ↑ According to FIDE, "girl" and "junior" players are those aged 20 or under at the end of the current year.
- ↑ After Judit Polgár
- ↑ After Anish Giri and Yangyi Yu.
- ↑ "Women's World Champion Yifan Hou - Sportsperson of the Year in China". FIDE. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ↑ "Internet Chess Club report". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
