Ruan Lufei
Encyclopedia
Ruan Lufei is a Chinese
chess
player. She plays for Jiangsu
chess club
in the China Chess League
(CCL).
, saw her break into the world's top 20 female chess players in January 2008. She had previously been in the FIDE Top 20 Girls List from 2004–2007, having reached a peak of 6th position on the October 2007 list.
Ruan was part of the Chinese women's team (with Zhao Xue
, Hou Yifan
, Shen Yang, Huang Qian
) that won the First World Women's Team Chess Championship 2007 in Yekaterinburg
. She had also won a silver medal (3rd board prize) with a score of 6/7.
In 2007, Ruan won second prize at the 12th Asian Women's Chess Championship.
During August and September 2008, at the Women's World Chess Championship
she was knocked out in the third round 0.5-1.5 by Pia Cramling
of Sweden.
In the First World Mind Sports Games, October 2008 in Beijing, Ruan was part of the Chinese Women's team and won the gold medal, which was the second time she was on a team winning the World Team Championship.
In the 2010 Women's World Championship she reached the final, having won on tiebreaks in every round (eliminating previous champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
in the process), and faced fellow Chinese Hou Yifan
for the championship. Hou was firm favourite to win, especially since Ruan had an exhausting tournament, with all her matches going to the wire, while Hou had a comparatively easy ride to the final. In the 1st game of the 4 game final Ruan, having the black pieces, held Hou to a draw. However, when she lost the 2nd game with white, it seemed all over. Hou failed to deliver the knock out blow with the white pieces in round 3, though, which gave Ruan a window of opportunity in the 4th and final round of the classical games. Ruan, in a must win game, employed the Keres attack against the Sicilian defence, and in a very exciting game, recorded the win she needed for a spectacular come back, sending her into yet another set of tiebreak games. Having won all her previous tiebreaks, she was considered favourite to win by some commentators. As in the classical games, the 1st game was drawn, and Hou won the 2nd. Ruan drew the 3rd, ensuring the rapid tiebreaks go the distance, and was again in a must win situation, if she wanted the match to continue into the blitz tiebreaks. Unlike in the classical tiebreaks, however, she had the black pieces this time, and her much younger and better rested opponent, used the advantage of the white pieces to clinch the match and the title. Although Ruan finally ran out of gas, her run in the tournament showed what she's capable of, and her performance duly earned her a GM norm.
in 2005 and she is now a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
player. She plays for Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
chess club
Chess club
A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs provide for both informal games and timed games, often as part of an internal competition or in a league.-Organisation:...
in the China Chess League
China Chess League
The China Chess League is a Chinese professional league for chess clubs. The league is organized by the Chinese Chess Association. It is sponsored by Youngor Group and was sponsored by the Shandong and it has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. Seasons usually run from April...
(CCL).
Career
Ruan's natural talent for the game, hard work, and co-operation with her coach, Xu JunXu Jun
Xu Jun is a Chinese chess Grandmaster. In 1994, he became China's fourth Grandmaster.He was champion of China in 1983 and 1985. He has been a member of the Chinese Olympiad Team, a five times winner of the Asia Team Championship 1983–2003, the 1987 3.3 Zonal Champion, the 1998 Champion of...
, saw her break into the world's top 20 female chess players in January 2008. She had previously been in the FIDE Top 20 Girls List from 2004–2007, having reached a peak of 6th position on the October 2007 list.
Ruan was part of the Chinese women's team (with Zhao Xue
Zhao Xue
Zhao Xue is a Chinese chess player who holds the Woman Grandmaster and Grandmaster titles. In 2008, she became China's 24th Grandmaster.-Career:...
, Hou Yifan
Hou Yifan
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess prodigy. She is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's...
, Shen Yang, Huang Qian
Huang Qian
Huang Qian is a Chinese WGM-titled chess player.She is currently the 47th ranked female chess player in the world. She had previously been in the FIDE Top 20 Girls List from 2003–2006, having reached a peak of 9th position on the April 2006 list....
) that won the First World Women's Team Chess Championship 2007 in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
. She had also won a silver medal (3rd board prize) with a score of 6/7.
In 2007, Ruan won second prize at the 12th Asian Women's Chess Championship.
During August and September 2008, at the Women's World Chess Championship
Women's World Chess Championship 2008
The Women's World Chess Championship 2008 consisted of a tournament for the Women's World Chess Championship which took place from August 28, 2008 to September 18 in Nalchik in Russia. It was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who beat Hou Yifan in the final by 2½ to 1½.-Participants:Players were seeded...
she was knocked out in the third round 0.5-1.5 by Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling is a Swedish chess grandmaster. Since the early 1980s, she has been one of the strongest female players in the world....
of Sweden.
In the First World Mind Sports Games, October 2008 in Beijing, Ruan was part of the Chinese Women's team and won the gold medal, which was the second time she was on a team winning the World Team Championship.
In the 2010 Women's World Championship she reached the final, having won on tiebreaks in every round (eliminating previous champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian chess Grandmaster and a former Women's World Chess Champion.-Chess career:Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father...
in the process), and faced fellow Chinese Hou Yifan
Hou Yifan
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess prodigy. She is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's...
for the championship. Hou was firm favourite to win, especially since Ruan had an exhausting tournament, with all her matches going to the wire, while Hou had a comparatively easy ride to the final. In the 1st game of the 4 game final Ruan, having the black pieces, held Hou to a draw. However, when she lost the 2nd game with white, it seemed all over. Hou failed to deliver the knock out blow with the white pieces in round 3, though, which gave Ruan a window of opportunity in the 4th and final round of the classical games. Ruan, in a must win game, employed the Keres attack against the Sicilian defence, and in a very exciting game, recorded the win she needed for a spectacular come back, sending her into yet another set of tiebreak games. Having won all her previous tiebreaks, she was considered favourite to win by some commentators. As in the classical games, the 1st game was drawn, and Hou won the 2nd. Ruan drew the 3rd, ensuring the rapid tiebreaks go the distance, and was again in a must win situation, if she wanted the match to continue into the blitz tiebreaks. Unlike in the classical tiebreaks, however, she had the black pieces this time, and her much younger and better rested opponent, used the advantage of the white pieces to clinch the match and the title. Although Ruan finally ran out of gas, her run in the tournament showed what she's capable of, and her performance duly earned her a GM norm.
WGM title
In 2007, she was awarded the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title. She achieved her WGM norms at:- 2004 China Women's Team Championship in JinanJinanJinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilisation and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub...
, ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(April 16–24, 2004); score 6.5/9 - China Zonal 3.5 Women's Championship in BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(October 20–25, 2005); score 5.0/9 - 8th Women's World Team Championship in SochiSochiSochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(May 1–11, 2007); score 7.5/10
Education
Ruan began studying at Tsinghua UniversityTsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
in 2005 and she is now a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.