Hou Yifan Pulling Away in China
A second win as Black has widened GM Hou Yifan's lead over GM Anna Ushenina in the 2013 Women's World Championship Match in Taizhou, China. The challenger drew an uneventful game in round two but won convincingly in round three.
Hou Yifan again used the Nimzo-Indian but won in only 24 moves, as opposed to her opening-round win, which at least lasted until just after the time control (41 moves).
In round two, the pair played to a draw in the Sveshnikov after Ushenina's minority attack effectively cleared out all the queenside pawns.
The women are playing a 10-game match, with the first to 5.5 winning the title. They will play two games, have a rest day, then repeat. Hou Yifan has White today.
Company Contact and News Accreditation:
- Email: Mike@chess.com
- Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
- Address: PO Box 60400 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
