Women's World Chess Championship 2011
Encyclopedia
The Women's World Chess Championship
2011 was the 34th women's world championship
in history. It was organized by FIDE and was played in a match format between the champion and the FIDE Grand Prix winner as challenger. On 8 August 2011 the match was awarded to Tirana
, Albania. The prize fund will be $200,000.
The match was scheduled to take place from 13 to 30 November 2011
Hou Yifan
retained her title, after gaining it in the Women's World Chess Championship 2010
. Her challenger was Koneru Humpy
the runner-up to Hou Yifan in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011.
s: 90 minutes for first 40 moves with added 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move starting from the first move.
Koneru Humpy played White in the first game. Colors alternate except after game 4. Rated 2578 and 2600 respectively the women are rated second and third on FIDE's women's rating list, behind only Judit Polgar
.
After eight games the match was decided, by Hou drawing
the eighth game and reaching 5½ points.
Should the match have been tied after ten games, tie-breaks would have kicked in. Those were:
with the following statistics:
Women's World Chess Championship
The Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE....
2011 was the 34th women's world championship
Women's World Chess Championship
The Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE....
in history. It was organized by FIDE and was played in a match format between the champion and the FIDE Grand Prix winner as challenger. On 8 August 2011 the match was awarded to Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
, Albania. The prize fund will be $200,000.
The match was scheduled to take place from 13 to 30 November 2011
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...
retained her title, after gaining it in the Women's World Chess Championship 2010
Women's World Chess Championship 2010
The Women's World Chess Championship, 2010 took place in Hatay, Turkey from December 2 through 25.The tournament was played in a 64 player knockout type. Each pairing consisted of two games, one with white and one with black. The winner advanced. In case of a tie, tiebreaks were played the next day...
. Her challenger was Koneru Humpy
Koneru Humpy
Humpy Koneru is an Indian chess Grandmaster. Her January 2010 FIDE Elo rating is 2614, placing her number two in the world for women . In 2007 she surpassed the rating of 2577 set by Susan Polgar to become the second-highest ranked female player in history...
the runner-up to Hou Yifan in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011.
Match format
The match was scheduled to be played over ten games with classical time controlTime control
A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock...
s: 90 minutes for first 40 moves with added 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move starting from the first move.
Koneru Humpy played White in the first game. Colors alternate except after game 4. Rated 2578 and 2600 respectively the women are rated second and third on FIDE's women's rating list, behind only Judit Polgar
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
.
| Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Koneru HumpyKoneru Humpy Humpy Koneru is an Indian chess Grandmaster. Her January 2010 FIDE Elo rating is 2614, placing her number two in the world for women . In 2007 she surpassed the rating of 2577 set by Susan Polgar to become the second-highest ranked female player in history... |
2600 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | – | – | 2½ |
 Hou YifanHou 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... |
2578 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | – | – | 5½ |
After eight games the match was decided, by Hou drawing
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
the eighth game and reaching 5½ points.
Should the match have been tied after ten games, tie-breaks would have kicked in. Those were:
- Up to four rapid games (25 minutes per match with a 10-second increment from the first move)
- two rapid games (5 minutes per match with a 3-second increment from the first move)
- One armageddon game that Black only needs to draw to win the match (5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black with a 3-second increment from move 61)
Previous head-to-head record
Prior to the match, Hou Yifan and Koneru Humpy played 16 games against each other at classical time controlTime control
A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock...
with the following statistics:
| Hou Yifan | Draws | Koneru Humpy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hou Yifan (White) – Koneru Humpy (Black) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Koneru Humpy (White) – Hou Yifan (Black) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Total | 8 | 6 | 2 | 16 |