| Rank after round 5 | ||||||||||
| Rank | SNo. | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts | |||||
| 1 | 4 | GM | HOU Yifan | 2571 | CHN | 4½ | ||||
| 2 | 12 | GM | KONERU Humpy | 2621 | IND | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | GM | ZHAO Xue | 2508 | CHN | 4 | ||||
| 4 | 3 | IM | FIERRO Baquero Martha L. | 2403 | ECU | 3½ | ||||
| 5 | 11 | GM | STEFANOVA Antoaneta | 2557 | BUL | 3 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | IM | DANIELIAN Elina | 2496 | ARM | 3 | ||||
| 7 | 9 | GM | CHIBURDANIDZE Maia | 2516 | GEO | 2½ | ||||
| 8 | 6 | GM | SEBAG Marie | 2529 | FRA | 2 | ||||
| 9 | 8 | WGM | SHEN Yang | 2448 | CHN | 1½ | ||||
| 10 | 1 | GM | CRAMLING Pia | 2548 | SWE | 1 | ||||
| 11 | 2 | WIM | YILDIZ Betul Cemre | 2214 | TUR | ½ | ||||
| 12 | 10 | WGM | MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab | 2362 | AZE | ½ | ||||
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Go Hu! You can win this.
Is Hou-Yifan left-handed (as the picture suggests)? Very interesting. I wonder how left-handedness (usually associated with the dominant use of the right brain) relates with chess skills.
A formal study has been conducted on this. It says that the proportion of left-handers among chess players (18%) is much higher than in the general population (about 10%). However, no significant difference in chess skills was noted between left- and right-handed players.
Hou is a right-handed. She takes notes with her right hand. I think on some occasions she just feels more comfortable to use her left hand to move the pieces.