Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan (born February 27, 1994, Xinghua, Jiangsu province, China) is a Chinese chess player who was the youngest person to win the women’s world championship, in 2010; she also won the event in 2011, 2013, and 2016.

Hou began playing chess when she was six years old. She began studying chess under Tong Yuanming, an International Master and a member of China’s national chess team. She became the youngest member of that team in 2003 and won her first international tournament in the girl’s under-10 division at the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) World Youth Chess Championship, held at Chalcidice (Chalkidhikí), Greece. At the 2006 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, she was defeated in the third round. She became the youngest Chinese women’s champion at the 2007 National Chess Championship, held in Chongqing. She earned the Woman Grand Master title from FIDE in 2007.

At the 2008 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, held in Nalchik, Russia, Hou was defeated by Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia in the final match. Later in that same year, she became the youngest woman to win the (men’s) Grand Master title. At age 16 Hou won the 2010 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, held in Antioch, Turkey, becoming the event’s youngest winner. She tied Ruan Lufei in the final round and went on to defeat her in a series of “speed” tie-breaking games with a score of 2 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses. At the 2011 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship in Tirana, Albania, Hou successfully defended her title, defeating Koneru Humpy. After losing in the second round at the following year’s championship, she regained the title in 2013, at Taizhou, China, and won it a fourth time in 2016, at Liv, Ukraine.

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