Women's World Ch: Ruan Lufei wins 4th match game, tiebreak tomorrow

Yet again Ruan Lufei managed to tie a minimatch and reach a tiebreak at the Women's World Championship in Antakya, Turkey. Today she beat Hou Yifan with White to level the score in the final. Tomorrow the tiebreak, with four rapid games and if necessary blitz and Armageddon, starts at 11:00 CET.

General info

The 2010 Women's World Championship, organized by the Turkish Chess Federation, takes place December 2-25 in Antakya, Hatay, Turkey. The format is a knock-out competition with five rounds of matches, comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round. The 6th and final round will be played over four games and the winner will be declared Women’s World Champion. More info here.

Final, games 3-4

Whereas the first half of the final was clearly for Hou Yifan, who took the lead with 1.5-0.5, in the second half Ruan Lufei had a strong comeback. In the third game she came close to a win, and today she won the fourth game convincingly to level the score.

Hou Yifan didn't repeat her 3.f3 against Ruan Lufei's Caro-Kann in game 3. Instead the two played a variation which was also seen in Short-Adams at the London Chess Classic. Black was already fine as soon as the queens went off and after a few inaccuracies Hou Yifan lost a pawn. The presence of opposite-coloured bishops was just enough to draw the game. At the end Ruan Lufei tried an exchange sac in return for two passed pawns, but Hou Yifan defended this accurately.



Today's game was a bit of a one-way affair, with Hou Yifan getting in trouble right from the start, and never getting a chance to recover. 12...Qh2 looks like a big mistake already, as it gives White a strong initiative for free. Later, 31...f6 seemed to weaken the position too much. From that moment Ruan Lufei's powerful play earned her the deserved point.



Tomorrow the tiebreak starts at 12:00 local time (11:00 CET, 05:00 EST). Four rapid games are scheduled and if necessary blitz games and an Armageddon game. The time control for the rapid games is 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment. The players get ten minutes rest between each rapid game.

If the score is level after the rapid games then, after a new drawing of colours, two blitz games (5 minutes plus 10 seconds increment) will be played. If the score is still level after these games then the players will play an Armageddon game. White gets 5 minutes, Black 4 with draw odds. From move 61 the players get 3 seconds increment.



The higher rated Hou Yifan should be considered favorite, but Ruan Lufei is certainly not without a chance. For her it will be the sixth time in a row to play a tiebreak and, logically, she hasn't lost one yet. Besides, she has nothing to lose. As she said herself on the official website after today's win: "Before the last game I thought I don’t have much chance and I thought she would win or maybe it would be a draw. I thought I only need to play, just to play it. If I have chance I’ll take it if I don’t have chance than just a joy of the game is ok. Anyway I’m satisfied with my result here now… I’m satisfied even if I’m on the second place."

Games 3-4 final

Game viewer by ChessTempo


Women's World Championship 2010 | Round 6 (final)

Photos © Turkish Chess Federation

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC