Hou Yifan Wins Again, Leads By Three
Women's world champion Hou Yifan virtually assured a successful defence of her title by beating challenger Humpy Koneru in the seventh game of their ten-game match to lead by three points.
Humpy Koneru would need to win all three remaining games to take the match to tie-breaks, which is extremely unlikely judging by the games so far.
Game eight takes place tomorrow (24 November) and unless Humpy wins the match will be over.
Hou Yifan - on the brink of victory
| Name | Nat | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
| Hou, Yifan | CHN | 2578 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
. | . | . | 5 |
| Koneru, Humpy | IND | 2600 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
. | . | . | 2 |
The total prize fund is 200,000 euros, with the main match sponsor being Taci Oil International.
The time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 30 minutes to finish the game, with a 30 second increment from the start.
If the scores are level after 10 games there will be a 4-game rapid match to determine the champion. If scores are still level, there will be up to 5 pairs of blitz games before a final sudden-death game. The full schedule can be found here.
The full FIDE match regulations are here.
Photo from the official website.
