Hou Yifan Regains Title
Needing only seven of the alotted 10 games, Chinese GM Hou Yifan convincingly won the 2013 Women's World Championship in Taizhou, China, by beating title-holder GM Anna Ushenina of Ukraine. Hou Yifan first won the title in 2010, then lost it last year by losing in the second round of the knockout-style event (which Ushenina won).
The title is contested annually but alternates between a large, elimination event, and a one-on-one match, as it was this year. Hou Yifan qualified as the challenger by winning the last Women's Grand Prix cycle.
Having dominated as Black throughout the match, Hou Yifan won for the first time as White to achieve the clinching score of 5.5-1.5. In a the first Najdorf of the series, Hou Yifan's king proved inviolate the whole game, while Ushenina's monarch was completely depleted of pawns. Facing invasions on the back rank, h-file, and White's well-poised knight, Ushenina conceded the game and the title.
GM Anna Ushenina, who was unable to win any games in the match
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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 99 countries.
