Women's World Championship Semi Finals - Day 1

The Women's World Chess Championship has reached the semi-finals stage in Nalchik, Russia.  The matches, like all the rounds so far, consist of 2-game matches between paired adversaries.  The final will be longer, at four games.

The first day of the semi-final saw wins for both Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) and Hou Yifan with the White pieces.

Kosteniuk beat the veteran Pia Cramling in fine style.  Whichever way her opponent castles, Kosteniuk seems to regard it as a signal to attack on that side of the board!  In a French Defence, Cramling chose to seek safety on the Queen-side, but Kosteniuk whipped up a nice attack and tied Cramling's pieces up in knots before ending the game with a nice tactical flourish.  Attractive play from the Russian!

Hou Yifan's win was no less impressive, using her tactical alertness to spot that Koneru Humpy's pieces were awkwardly placed to force the eventual win of a piece.  Humpy struggled on, but Yifan was not to be denied.

So Cramling and Humpy go into tomorrow's games needing a win to stay in the tournament.  Can Kosteniuk make it to the final of the Women's World Championships yet again?  Can 14-year old Hou Yifan knock out the favourite Humpy Koneru?  It should be thrilling day!