Women's World Championship
: Created:09 Mar 2011 , byHumpy Koneru won the last stage of the Women's Grand Prix, earning the right to challenge champion Hou Yifan for the title later this year. Who is going to win? ...
Both champion and challenger have established grades of just over 2600. In my humble view Koneru has a greater understanding of chess themes but Yifan has great endurance at the board and is possibly the better tactician. Neither are currently in the same league as Judith Polgar who has always competed in open events (men and women) but women's chess is growing internationally although I'm hard put to claim that English chess is leading the way.
There are no details of the venue and Koneru in India or Yifan in China would become strong favourites for the title but played at a neutral city (London?), I come off the fence to predict a victory for Hou Yifan. Can she kick on to challenge for the open world title? History is cruel for both sexes because unless you are up in the world's top ten by the time you are 20, the highest mountain will not be in your grasp.