Yifan Defeats Koneru in Semi-Finals

So the Women's World Chess Championship Final will be between 24 year-old Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and 14 year-old Hou Yifan of China (pictured).

Hou Yifan earned her place in the final the hard way by beating favourite Humpy Koneru of India in a blitz tie-break playoff. 

Yifan won the first rapid game only to be pagged back by Koneru in the second.  Yifan again took the lead by winning the first blitz game and this time Koneru failed to stage another comeback and was finally eliminated.

So it's Russia versus China in a 4-game final for the World Chess Championship.  In the red corner it's GM Alexandra Kosteniuk - a former Women's World Championship finalist from 7 years ago, she's now practically a veteran compared to her opponent.  In the errr...other red corner , a full 10 years younger, is Hou Yifan who has also qualified as a GM and is a remarkable chess phenomenon.

Saturday is a rest day, so the final starts on 14 Sept (Sunday) and finishes on 17 Sept (Wednesday).  If the scores are level there will be tiebreaks on the 18 Sept to determine the winner.

So what story will be written?  Is it to be the tale of Kosteniuk returning after many years to go one better and finally win the title she covets?  Or is to be Hou Yifan, a world champion at just 14 years of age?

We can only watch and wait...