2013 Chinese Chess Championships
The Chinese Individual Chess Championships are underway in in Xinghua, Jiangsu. The competition takes place from 16-27 April and features 12 players in a single round-robin format.
Top seed is Wang Yue (2706 Elo, pictured), but the competition is missing some other top names this year, with Wang Hao and Ding Liren absent. The latter will be playing in the Alekhine Memorial shortly, while Wang Hao features in the Norway Chess tournament in May.
Former women's world champion Hou Yifan is once again playing in the main competition, rather than the separate women's event, which runs concurrently in the same format.
Also playing in the main is Wei Yi, the 13 year-old GM-elect!
The time control is 90 minutes for the whole game plus a 30 second increment. Games start at 14:30 local time (06:30 UTC). Live games are broadcast here.
The main competition line-up
| # | Title | Name | Elo |
| 1 | GM | Wang Yue | 2706 |
| 2 | GM | Li Chao B | 2686 |
| 3 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2675 |
| 4 | GM | M Bu Xiangzhi | 2662 |
| 5 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2617 |
| 6 | GM | Zhou Jianchao | 2607 |
| 7 | GM | Zhou Weiqi | 2590 |
| 8 | GM | Zhao Jun | 2589 |
| 9 | GM | Ma Qun | 2559 |
| 10 | GM | Li Shilong | 2558 |
| 11 | GM | Xiu Deshun | 2534 |
| 12 | IM | Wei Yi | 2530 |
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The women's competition line-up
| # | Title | Name | Elo |
| 1 | WGM | Tan Zhongyi | 2483 |
| 2 | WGM | Guo Qi | 2439 |
| 3 | WGM | Ding Yixin | 2427 |
| 4 | WGM | Wang Jue | 2401 |
| 5 | IM | Shen Yang | 2397 |
| 6 | WGM | Zhang Xiaowen | 2367 |
| 7 | WIM | Zhai Mo | 2259 |
| 8 | Lei Tingjie | 2232 | |
| 9 | WIM | Ni Shiqun | 2213 |
| 10 | Ren Xiaoyi | 2212 | |
| 11 | WIM | Kuang Yinghui | 2212 |
| 12 | Li Xueyi | 2135 |
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The competition opened with an upset, as top seed Wang Yue lost against 9th seed Ma Qun.
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Ma Qun (pictured) defeated Wang Yue in the opening round
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Hou Yifan (pictured) started with a draw against second seed Li Chao
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Photos from the official website, via the Sina chess blog. Games via TWIC.
