: YIFAN HOU WITH 4 PALAU OPEN
CHESS TEAM MEMBERS
After lunch and before the 1st
round of 2014 WCO in Tromso, Norway, (L-R) Roberto Hernandez, Eric Ksau
Surangel Whipps, Jeff Balbalosa and Cyril Montel, Jr. had a photo session with
current women’s world chess champion Yifan Hou at the Clarion Hotel (The Edge).
(Photo by Eric Ksau Surangel Whipps)
2006 NEW QUEEN OF CHESS
Xu Yuhua, 29, is the new women’s
world champion. She won the title by defeating Russian International Master
(IM) Alisa Galliamova—2 ½- ½ in the finals of the FIDE’s brutal knockout
championship format which was first introduced in 2000.
Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Xu did
not lose a single game in the 64-player event held in Ekaterinburg, Russia from
March 10-27, 2006. She is the 3rd Chinese woman (after Xie Jun and
Zhu Chen) to win the world title and her coach is her nation’s top Grandmaster,
Ye Jiangchuan. Her victory makes Xu the 11th women champion since
the mighty Vera Menchik first won the title in 1927.
Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria,
who won the championship in 2004, was eliminated in the early rounds of this
“jueteng” of a tournament.
FIDE adapted the knockout format
to make the world championship “attractive” like Wimbledon. Here’s what British
GM Nigel Short has to say about this, well, “theory”: “It rather ignored the
point that the championship final usually attracted colossal publicity: one had
only to think of the Fischer-Spassky match: the epic Karpov-Korchnoi
encounters: Kasparov versus Karpov: even, on a more modest scale, my one-sided
match against Garry Kimovich. In fact, it was obvious to most observers that it
was the regular tournaments, not the world championship, that were in need of
change. Yet FIDE fixed virtually the only thing in chess that was not broken…
the knockout format proved to be a lottery. Classical chess, rapid and blitz
were jumbled together like the 10,000m, 800m and 100m (what’s wrong? It is all
running, isn’t it?). The great line of champions that began with Steinitz and
Lasker added Khalifman and Kasimjanov to their number. Eventually FIDE got the
point. The format was changed for the better in San Luis, Argentina, last year.
However, the knockout folly lives on in the current women’s championship which
has proved a bloodbath for the top seeds—in this case, the defending champion.”
In the final best-of-four match,
Galliamova drew the 2nd game with black and started well in the 3rd
and appeared to be on the path to victory. However, according to ChessBase,
with move 40 and the first time control looming, she started to slip, allowing
Xu to take the initiative. “Instead of pragmatically playing for a draw, the
Russian IM sought to retain her chances in a counter-attack, which failed.
Up to the 38th move,
Galliamova has been doing fine, but now, just 2 moves before the time control
she starts slipping and played 39. f5 instead of 39. Rb7 followed by 40. Bb4. This
is more convincing). After black’s 41st move Rg8, the white
advantage has almost completely evaporated. Black is on the attack. On the 48th
move, white abandons her king to launch her own attack. But this gets her into
deep trouble. Galliamova made a desperate move on the 53th and resigned on the
59th turn.
When FIDE C.E.O Geoffrey Borg
visited Palau in January and April, he has all praises for the current women’s
world champion Yifan Hou of China. He said if Palau will invite Ms. Yifan to
come to Palau, she will not hesitate to do so.
In August 02, 2014, during the
first round of the 2014 World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, 4 Palau Chess
Team members –Roberto Hernandez, Eric Ksau Surangel Whipps, Jeff Balbalosa and
Cyril Montel, Jr., met Ms. Yifan at the Clarion Hotel (The Edge). They had a
photo session. When Jeff asked for a selfie, Ms. Yifan refused citing her face
will look chubby because it is a close-up shot.
Solution to last week’s puzzle
No. 4383: 1. …Qxh2+!! 2. Kxh2 hxg3++ 3. Kg1 Rh1 mate.
This week’s puzzle No. 4384:
Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)
Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 9-10
Volume 24
Issue 26
March 30, 2015
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