Harika Wins All 3 Segments, Hou Yifan Cranks Out 7-Game Winning Streak

GMs Hou Yifan and Harika Dronavalli move on to the Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship 2023 Semifinals after convincingly defeating IM Polina Shuvalova and GM Valentina Gunina, respectively. 

Hou, the favorite, was actually at a two-point deficit in the 3+1 portion—but went on a seven-game winning streak and finished with a 13.5-7.5 final score. Harika's match was severely one-sided as she won all three segments with a final score of 17.5-6.5. 

The Quarterfinals continue on Tuesday, November 14 with GM Kateryna Lagno vs WGM Priyanka Nutakki, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET / 14:30 CET / 7:00 p.m. IST.

Hou 13.5-7.5 Shuvalova | Quarterfinals 

• 5+1: Hou 3-4 Shuvalova
• 3+1: Hou 6-1 Shuvalova
• 1+1: Hou 4.5-2.5 Shuvalova

Gunina 6.5-17.5 Harika | Quarterfinals 

• 5+1: Gunina 2-6 Harika
• 3+1: Gunina 2.5-4.5 Harika
• 1+1: Gunina 2-7 Harika

Hou, the highest-rated actively playing woman in the world and the 2021 WSCC champion, is a big favorite in the field, not only in this match. Shuvalova, however, most recently proved her acumen in speed chess by winning the 2023 I'M Not A GM SCC. She further justified her place in the WSCC by winning a grueling, two-day qualifier the week before. 

Despite Hou's decreased activity in chess after pursuing her career as a professor, SmarterChess still gave her great odds. She is a four-time women's world champion after all.

5+1: Hou 3-4 Shuvalova 

The first portion was the closest of the match—and the only one to end in Shuvalova's favor. 

Every single game was decisive, although that remained true until the first and only draw came in game 20.

White isn't doing badly so far! #SpeedChess #WSCC pic.twitter.com/Ogfhuv8gyq

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

Shuvalova introduced the first black win in the fifth game, where Hou found the strong knight sacrifice 14.Nxd5!, but the second one, 22.Nfe5?, was too fancy ("a little bit crazy" in Hou's words)—and White went down a piece.

Shuvalova won the next game with a two-minute advantage over her opponent. With no time, Hou just collapsed, prompting commentator GM Robert Hess to conclude: "I'm worried about Yifan—it does not seem she can keep up with Polina's speed!" 

Almost as a direct response, the Chinese grandmaster won the last game of the segment with a positional masterclass—and nearly an extra minute on her opponent at the end of the game. GM Rafael Leitao takes a deeper look at the Game of the Day below.

3+1: Hou 6-1 Shuvalova

The second portion, which also featured zero draws, was the most exciting of the three. After reaching a two-point deficit after the first game, Hou then entered "beast mode" and finished the segment with a four-point lead.

Shuvalova won the first game in just 32 moves with a crushing attack. But it would be her last win in this segment as she would go on to lose the next seven games in a row—six in this segment and then one more in the bullet.

The fifth in that series of victories featured a powerful rook lift in the Zaitsev Ruy Lopez. After 22.Re3!, the single rook put massive pressure on three files, jumping from e- to g- to c- and back to e-. 

In the last game, Hou showed some excellent and surprising preparation to snag a pawn in the opening: 

Hou Yifan comes up with a stunning move... after some unusual preparation:
Hess: "We can't even see Yifan anymore, we just see her hands playing an instrument on her head!" #SpeedChess #WSCC pic.twitter.com/kdpiHCS1yd

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

The Chinese grandmaster, quite warmed up now, finished the segment with a 9-5 lead.

1+1: Hou 4.5-2.5 Shuvalova 

The bullet segment was relatively close in itself, but Shuvalova was never able to recover from the damage done in the 3+1 portion. Hou never once gave up the lead.

After winning the first game, Hou missed a pretty checkmate and ended up blundering her bishop in the second:

But mistakes are bound to happen in bullet chess. In the third game, Shuvalova herself blundered a knight and then a queen:

A huge game, as Polina Shuvalova was on the verge of narrowing the gap to 3 points before blundering a knight and then a queen with a pre-move! #SpeedChess #WSCC pic.twitter.com/p9OQa3pZvf

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

They each traded wins with the black pieces, and after a draw Hou won the last game of the segment—though the match was already decided in her favor by then.

The legendary Chinese player and professor doesn't play as actively as she used to, but she is still active. Most recently, she played at the Asian Games, where she scored an undefeated 8/9 points.

She revealed in the interview that she's back in Beijing and looks forward to playing over the board in the summer: 

Hou Yifan reveals she's switched from a university in Shenzhen back to Beijing and is busier than ever, so that she can mainly play OTB events in the summer break! #SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/OOr6J1gnpn

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

Hou takes home $3,562.50 for winning the match plus another $2,290.18 by win percentage. Shuvalova leaves the tournament with $1,272.32 by win percentage.

Now for our second match of the day, Gunina vs. Harika.

The SmarterChess prediction hasn't been this wrong in recent memory. Rather than a resounding Gunina victory, it was Harika who dominated all three segments of the match—it was a blowout.

5+1: Gunina 2-6 Harika 

The first portion was Harika's best. After the first two games ended in draws, Harika won five and lost one. 

We should mention that the 2012 Women's World Blitz Champion Gunina was playing from the hospital. In May, she was diagnosed with "immunity problems," in her words. She added: "I'm lucky that I still can play chess...[but] it's really difficult."

Everything worked in Harika's favor as she won games three through six consecutively. In the second, she even won on time in an equal position:

In her sole victory of the segment, Gunina found a rare tactic: a knight retreat that's also a double attack.

Gunina finds a high-class knight retreat with a double attack, punching back with her first victory in the match!

Score: Gunina 2-4 Harika #WSCC pic.twitter.com/qox8eu3rIL

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

Still, the Indian grandmaster went on to win the last two games. The final game featured the first of four (!) rook blunders that would take place in this match, two of which would be spotted. 

In this first one, Harika's conversion was generally spotless—except for one major slip-up that went unpunished:

Harika ended the first segment with a four-point lead, one that would never diminish.

Commentator GM Daniel Naroditsky summed it up: "Harika has been better in time scrambles, she's been so much better in the opening, and she's just played the better chess and committed less blunders."

Harika has been better in time scrambles, she's been so much better in the opening, and she's just played the better chess and committed less blunders.

—Daniel Naroditsky

3+1: Gunina 2.5-4.5 Harika 

Curiously, the first two games of this portion also ended in draws. It would end up being Gunina's best segment, though Harika won all three.

The first game, though it ended in a draw, featured the second rook blunder—this time missed by Harika.

The Indian GM won game three thanks to the third rook blunder—and the first one punished.

Nothing seemed to go Gunina's way. She miraculously held a draw in the following game, but then in a game she should have won, Gunina hung a rook again with a mouse slip. 

After spoiling a winning position earlier, Gunina mouse slips and gifts a second rook in this match! 😱#WSCC pic.twitter.com/5PDJUdvvhR

— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 13, 2023

With good chess and thanks to a few complimentary gifts, Harika took a six-point lead going into the final segment.

1+1: Gunina 2-7 Harika 

Ahead of the final segment, commentator IM Irine Sukandar predicted: "It's going to be more interesting," anticipating both blunders and great moves to follow. It turned out to be more interesting for Harika than her opponent, as the former didn't lose a single game in this segment, and she won five of the nine games.

The Indian grandmaster won the first four games off the bat. In the third game, she found a somewhat uncommon move to win the exchange by force. Can you find it too?

After those wins, four of the last five games were drawn as Harika played it safe and steered the match cautiously to its conclusion. The last victory was a nice liquidation into the pawn endgame, which was winning despite the (temporarily) equal material.

The match was essentially over with 12 minutes still on the match clock.

After this powerhouse performance, Harika will face the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal match. She also takes home $3,562.50 plus another $2,597.66 by win percentage. Gunina exits the tournament with $964.84 by win percentage.

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

• Shuvalova, Priyanka Qualify For Julius Baer WSCC 2023
• 'Hou Yifan Out For Revenge Against Lagno In 2023 Julius Baer Women’s Speed Chess Championship