Friday February 29, 2008
64: 13-year-old GM killer
By Zaldy Dandan
Variety Editor
THE women’s champ of China — a world chess power — is only 13 years old and is already on her way to superstardom. Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu on Feb. 27, 1994, Hou Yifan started playing chess at the age of 6 and was admitted to the National Chess Center in Beijing when she was 10 so she could be trained by two of China’s veteran grandmasters, Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng.
Hou plays aggressively and in the Group B Corus tournament last month, she finished seventh to tenth place with a performance rating of 2598 — and victories over three grandmasters, including Nigel Short, the former world championship challenger.
Game of the week. As our annotator, former Short trainer Lubomir Kavalek, puts it, “There are victories and defeats to be remembered forever.” And Hou’s trouncing of Short, “was an exceptional victory, a historical feat.”
Short, who was thoroughly destroyed in 23 moves, said later that it was “especially embarrassing to lose to an opponent who is three years younger than my daughter.”
Here is the full analysis.
This is what is extraordinary about chess. Age, sex, and race are transcended on a daily basis.
Short should not be embarrassed. That is ‘Old England’ talkin’…
ouch. i feel small but energized in knowing I could do the same if I apply myself more. Thanks susan for this article.
WCM Claudia Munoz
4th grade
womancandidatemaster.blogspot.com
It is a little surprising that China has achieve such dominance in Women’s chess, yet remains without a Men’s grandmaster at >=2700.
25 Wang, Yue 2698
28 Bu, Xiangzhi 2691
37 Ni, Hua 2680
48 Wang, Hao 2665
GeneM
CastleLong.com …for FRC-chess960
Western men have been playing chess on a serious level professionally for a lot longer than Western women (mid 19th century vs. late 20th century).
The Chinese men have a lot further to go to catch up to Western men than the Chinese women have to go to catch up with the Western women.