Hou Yifan Wins Second WSCC Title

GM Hou Yifan is the first player to win two WSCC titles. After defeating GM Harika Dronavalli in the Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship 2023 Final 15-11, the Chinese grandmaster is a two-time champion.

"Ever since her first victory, she never relinquished the lead," said commentator GM Daniel Naroditsky after the match. Critical to her success was incisive precision when converting advantages as well as her resilience to save several lost positions.

Hou 15-11 Harika | Final

• 5+1: Hou 5-3 Harika
• 3+1: Hou 5.5-3.5 Harika
• 1+1: Hou 4.5-4.5 Harika

Both times Hou won the WSCC, in 2021 and 2023, she faced Harika in the Final. Two years ago, she won her first title with a 15-13 score, and SmarterChess predicted another narrow match victory by just one point.

Her score this year went above and beyond 2021 and the pre-match predictions, and her powerful start in the first segment paved the way for a commanding and impenetrable lead.

5+1: Hou 5-3 Harika

Hou took a three-point lead in the first four games. Although her opponent won two games in the second half, the trend was clear from the outset.

The good knight vs. bad bishop was a theme that would recur in this match, with the four-time world champion having the knight.

Of the very first game, which Hou won, commentator WGM Jennifer Shahade remarked: "I know there's a lot of games in the Speed Chess Championship, but I don't think I'll ever forget that dark-squared control she had with the gorgeous knight on c5, the king on d4, just painting a picture."

I don't think I'll ever forget that dark-squared control she had with the gorgeous knight on c5, the king on d4, just painting a picture.

—Jennifer Shahade 

With such a delightful description, this is no doubt our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao goes over in detail below.

Game two was potentially one of the most exciting in the entire segment as both players made game-changing mistakes, but, in what seems like cosmic justice for both players, it ended in a draw.

Wild swings in Game 2 before Harika and Hou Yifan finally made a draw! https://t.co/ISTRwK068n #WSCC #SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/XS40heHpbV

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 22, 2023

The 2021 WSCC champion won games three and four back-to-back, first by grinding out a rook endgame and then converting two extra pawns in a more tactical game.

Now down three points, Harika's first win featured a fantastic piece sacrifice with 15...Ng6!, threatening ...Nh4 and ...Qg2#. Though White managed to crawl her way back into the game, Black went on to win the rook ending much later.

Harika won the next game as well after declining a threefold repetition, but it was Hou who had the last laugh—well, the last win in this segment. 23.Rxb3! sacrificed a clean exchange, not even for a pawn, and she won after trapping the black bishop on h3.

With an accurate draw in the last game, Hou finished the first portion with a two-point lead and with the momentum still on her side.

3+1: Hou 5.5-3.5 Harika

By winning the second portion with another two-point lead, Hou placed Harika into a desperate situation, one from which she was unable to recover.

The Chinese GM won the first two games off the bat, a frightening start.

In the first game, she punished Black for ambitiously choosing to attack rather than castle her king. The second was a warning that even the solid London System wasn't a sanctuary from Hou's wrath.

"Play the London. It'll be great, they said..."
Hou Yifan takes a 4-point lead!#WSCC #SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/cOPHMZsb2x

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 22, 2023

On the other side of a draw, Hou won another two straight games to take a six-point lead. After winning a nice endgame with a zwischenzug, she then won another endgame with a great knight on c5 and a king on d4, against a miserable bishop betrayed by its own pawns.

Then, the comeback became a near-reality. Harika won the next two games, and Naroditsky said: "This is honestly the kind of chess that she needs to play the rest of the match if she wants a chance at a comeback."

Alas, Hou critically saved the last two games, where she was much worse or even lost but managed to draw. Had they ended in wins for Harika, the match score and psychological trend could have been much different.

1+1: 4.5-4.5 Harika

Four points down, Harika needed to make things happen quickly to have a chance. But the Chinese grandmaster continued to convert positions where she was better and to also save ones where she was worse.

The first two games ended in draws, though in the first one, Harika was up a pawn in a rook endgame.

India's second female grandmaster finally won game three, but that comeback was immediately stopped in its tracks in the next game. Hou dismantled the Scandinavian Defense in 16 moves.

Hou then won the next game too, calculating an unstoppable checkmate even as her opponent queened a pawn.

Hou Yifan allows her opponent to queen a pawn, but she has checkmate! She goes up by five points.#SpeedChess #WSCC pic.twitter.com/MlrDjQUAuY

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 22, 2023

When the match clock reached seven minutes, the commentators started discussing the match in the past tense, even as games were ongoing. Harika won the last two games, which does count for prize money by win percentage but not for the title.

Hou earns $10,000 for winning the title match and another $5,769.23 by win percentage. Harika takes home $4,230.77 for the games she won.

"I got lucky to start with some leading positions," said Hou in her interview. "When this match [went] to the bullet chess, I felt like I [couldn't] see the moves... but in general I am relatively satisfied with the performance today especially compared to the previous match where I blundered more."

Will the world's highest-rated woman return to chess full-time in the future? The answer wasn't a "yes," but it wasn't a "no" either!

Will Hou Yifan consider coming back to chess full-time?

"It's really hard to say, but at the moment I do not have the clear plan that I will come back full-time, but I wouldn't really say in a certain word for the future."#SpeedChess #WSCC pic.twitter.com/dE9Y4ggcjy

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 22, 2023

Harika joined for an interview as well, sharing: "I'm just not happy with my strength today. I think it has to do with immediately back-to-back matches... it was really exhausting because I finished my matches at like 11 p.m. and today immediately to start this evening... I'll have this regret for some time."

She also later added: "This is one of my favorite tournaments, being at home you can play such matches with the best players with an amazing prize fund... I wish to come back again next year!"

Across all her matches, Hou won $31,031 this season, Harika $19,663.65 in second, and GM Kateryna Lagno $9,123.58 in third.

This was the last edition of the Speed Chess Championship this year, and we look forward to its return in 2024.

The 2023 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship (WSCC) is an online competition featuring some of the strongest women chess players in the world, with the main event starting on November 13. The WSCC features a $75,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage

• Harika Advances To Final Vs. Hou Yifan
• Hou Yifan Prevails In Clash Of World Champions
• 'Chess Queen' Kosteniuk Wins Battle Of Generations Vs. Vaishali
• Lagno Clinches With Double-Digit Margin, Advances To Semifinals
• Harika Wins All 3 Segments, Hou Yifan Cranks Out 7-Game Winning Streak
• Shuvalova, Priyanka Qualify For Julius Baer WSCC 2023
• 'Hou Yifan Out For Revenge Against Lagno In 2023 Julius Baer Women’s Speed Chess Championship