Yifan will be heading to New York for her summer project, working in the field of artificial intelligence and public health. “As someone with no previous internship experience, the summer project is a great opportunity for me to get some work experience and apply what I’ve learnt over the past year. I’m keeping an open mind about the main policy area I’d ultimately like to pursue, so the summer project is the perfect length of time to get an idea of whether working in public health policy is something I want to take further.” She played in the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, a category 20 tournament held in, Shamkir Azerbaijan, from 26 May to 4 June. She was the ninth seed out of ten participants and finished in last place with a 2.5/10 score (−4 = 5, TPR 2578) From 31 March to 9 April, she participated in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic. She finished equal 8th–9th out of ten with a score of 3½/9 (+0 –2 =7). [171] 2019 [ edit ]

Hou reached the third round (the last 16) of the Women's World Chess Championship in March 2006. [49] Despite being rated 2269 and seeded 56th out of 64 players, [50] she defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (rated 2480) of Russia 1½–½ in the first round, then the former 2000 European champion WGM Natalia Zhukova (2432) of Ukraine 2–0 in the second round. [51] She was beaten 0–2 by IM Nino Khurtsidze (2430) of Georgia in the third round to finish with a performance rating of 2504. [52] [53] Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament". Awm2008.tsf.org.tr . Retrieved 3 December 2011. By earning the prestigious grandmaster title at 14 years, six months and 16 days of age, Hou became (and is still) the youngest female in history to receive the distinction. She also became one of the youngest overall grandmasters—in fact, at the time of publishing in February 2020, she’s number-23 on the list of the youngest chess grandmasters. In August, she took part in the Chess World Cup 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. She was one of the two female participants in the 128-player single-elimination tournament. Her opponent for the first round was Sergei Movsesian, to whom she lost 2–0, resulting in her elimination. [128] In early February, Hou played and won in a four-game match against Cristobal Henriquez Villagra in Punta Arenas. Billed as a Bicontinental Chess Match, it was scheduled to be played in two locations, but due to inclement weather, they were unable to play in Antarctica. She won the match with a 2.5–1.5 score(+2 −1 =1, TPR 2584).From 29 May to 7 June, she played in the 3rd Hainan Danzhou Grand Master Chess Tournament that traditionally showcased the top 10 highest rated Chinese players, although the two highest rated players at the time Wang Hao and Li Chao did not participate. Seeded 6th by rating, Hou finished in 10th and last place with 3/9. [133] In December, she won the 2019 Belt and Road World Chess Woman Summit with 5/7 points. [172] Rating [ edit ]

From 16 July to 19 July, Hou played in the 5th leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 held in Jermuk, Armenia. She won the event with a 7/11 score (+4 −1 =6, TPR 2598). This victory added to her victories in Rostov 2011 and Shenzeng 2011 made Hou the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 and secured for herself the challenger spot for the Women's World Chess Championship 2013.

Areas of expertise

Snowflakes are fallin' on the Aeroflot Open 2007". Chessbase.com. 19 February 2007 . Retrieved 3 December 2011.

In June, she took part in a tournament in India, the AAI International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2011. [125] She finished with a dismal last place, but in August, she rebounded to win clear first place in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 tournament in Rostov, Russia. [126] She then went on to win the second Grand Prix stage in Shenzhen in September 2011. [127] She declined to defend her title at the Women's World Chess Championship 2017, and as a result forfeited her title. [168] Some of the technology-related topics Yifan has studied this year include issues like the Huawei case and the implications of state-owned media. “These topics are hugely relevant to me and I feel that I’ve gained a more objective view from exploring them on the course. I can now consider things not only from my own viewpoint as a Chinese citizen, but also from, for example, a Western angle. I’ve gained new perspectives in terms of geopolitics and a new understanding of the technological debate that underpins the political one.” Four-time winner of the honorary Caissa Cup [176] as the best female player of the year (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014). Chess Award of Caissa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, [177] was solemnly presented at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul on 2 September 2012, during a meeting of the Commission for Women's Chess with the participation of Susan Polgar chairing the commission.d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto. Nimzowitsch Variation ( E15) 5. Qc2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. e4 d5 8. cxd5 Bxf1 9. Kxf1 exd5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Nc3 Nxd2+ A novelty. 12. Nxd2 Qd7 13. Kg2 Nc6 14. Qa4 0-0 15. Rac1 f6 ? 16.Nd1 Nxe5 17.Qxd7 Nxd7 18.Rxc7 Bb4 19.Nf3 +/−; better was 15...Rfd8. 16. f4 fxe5 17. dxe5 Bb4 18. Rhf1 Rac8 19. Ne2 Nxe5 20. Qxb4 Nd3 21. Qb3 Nxc1 22. Nxc1 Rce8 23. Nf3 Qf5 24. Rf2 c5 25. Qd3 Qe4 26. Rd2 d4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. Nd3 Re6 29. h4 Rc8 30. a4 a6 31. Nfe5 b5 32. a5 g6 33. Rc2 c4 34. Nb4 Rf8 35. b3 d3 36. Rd2 Rc8 37. Rd1 Rd6 38. Kf3 d2 39. bxc4 bxc4 40. Nc2 c3 41. Ke2 Rd5 42. Ng4 Rxa5 43. Nge3 Rd8 44. Rb1 Ra2 45. Kd1 Rb2 46. Ra1 Rdb8 47. Rxa6 Rb1+ 48. Ke2 Rc1 49. Rc6 Re8 0–1 If 50.Kd3, then ...Rxc2 follows. If 50.Rxc3, then ...d1=Q+. Views [ edit ] Male-female skill gap at the top-level [ edit ] Hou Yifan ( Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán pronunciation ⓘ; born 27 February 1994) [1] [2] [3] is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. [4] Once a chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster (at the age of 14 years, 6 months, 16 days) and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16).

At the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Hou finished with a score of 6/10 (the tournament was won by Hikaru Nakamura). Her round 7 win against the French master Borya Ider, in which she made an early positional sacrifice of queen for two minor pieces, was described as "truly astonishing" by organizer and chess journalist John Saunders. [164] In the final round, she appeared to throw her game against Indian Grandmaster Lalith Babu, playing a ridiculous opening and resigning after 5 moves. She later explained that she was upset about being paired against other female players in 7 of her 9 previous games of a Swiss system tournament, despite men far outnumbering women at the tournament. [165] [166] However tournament organizer Brian Callaghan said the pairings were simply the result of a computer program. [167]

From 14 July to 24 July, Hou played in the grandmaster section of the prestigious Biel chess tournament. This was a six player category 19 event with an average rating of 2717 with Hou being the lowest rated player. She started with a win over Anish Giri and was tied for second entering the final round and could take joint first place by winning her final game against Pendyala Harikrishna. While she wound up losing the final game, Hou still had a successful tournament, finishing joint 3rd–5th with a 5/10 score (+2 −2 =6, TPR 2734). [142] Fighting chess in the final round of the GRENKE Chess Classic". Grenke Chess Classic. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017 . Retrieved 12 September 2017.