2006 World Women's Chess Championship

The 2006 Women's World Chess Championship was held in a knockout system. The Bulgarian world champion Antoaneta Stefanowa failed in the second round. As the new title holder, Xu Yuhua brought the women's chess crown back to China. The venue for the World Cup was Yekaterinburg , where the title fights took place in March 2006. The main judge was Andrzej Filipowicz from Poland , supported by Ashot Vardapetyan ( Armenia ). 64 players took part. With the exception of the final, these met in mini matches over two games each. In the event of a tie, games with a shorter reflection period were extended. The seventh game was played as an Armageddon game , so that a winner could be determined even with a score of 3½: 3½. The numbers before or after the player's name in the following table indicate their position in the seeding list.

1 round

held on March 11th and 12th, 2006

21st	Nana Dzagnidze	4 - 2	Yevgenia Ovod	44
12	Monika Soćko	½ - 1½	Ju Wenjun	53
5	Maia Chiburdanidze	1½ - ½	Ingris Rivera	60
28	Ketewan Arachamia-Grant	2½ - ​​1½	Marta Zielińska	37
29	Elina Danieljan	2½ - ​​1½	Cristina-Adela Foișor	36
4th	Alexandra Kostenjuk	2 - 0	Natalia Khoudgarian	61
13	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	1½ - ½	Atousa Pourkashiyan	52
20th	Lilit Mkrtchjan	1½ - 2½	Ruan Lufei	45
17th	Jelena Dembo	½ - 1½	Carolina Luján	48
16	Alissa Galljamova	1½ - ½	Maka Purtseladze	49
1	Antoaneta Stefanova	1½ - ½	Amina Mezioud	64
32	Iweta Radziewicz	2 - 0	Tatiana Kononenko	33
25th	Nino Khurzidze	2½ - ​​1½	Wang Yu	40
8th	Zhu Chen	0 - 2	Maritza Arribas Robaina	57
9	Nadezhda Kosinzeva	½ - 1½	Hou Yifan	56
24	Natalia Schukova	3½ - 2½	Shen Yang	41
23	Lela Javakhishvili	1½ - ½	Irina Slavina	42
10	Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi	1½ - ½	Irina Berezina	55
7th	Kateryna Lahno	½ - 1½	Karen Zapata	58
26th	Svetlana Matveyeva	2 - 0	Irina Vasilevich	39
31	Elena Zaiatz	½ - 1½	Marie Sebag	34
2	Humpy Koneru	2 - 0	Tuduetso Sabure	63
15th	Qin Kanying	1½ - ½	Dana Tuleyeva-Aketayeva	50
18th	Almira Scripcenco	½ - 1½	Jovanka Houska	47
19th	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	1½ - ½	Sulennis Piña Vega	46
14th	Zhao Xue	½ - 1½	Maria Kursowa	51
3	Pia Cramling	2 - 0	Farid Basta Sohair	62
30th	Elisabeth Pähtz	2 - 4	Peng Zhaoqin	35
27	Ekaterina Korbut	1 - 3	Anna Uschenina	38
6th	Xu Yuhua	1½ - ½	Hoàng Xuân Thanh Khiết	59
11	Tatiana Kossinzewa	2 - 0	Subbaraman Meenakshi	54
22nd	Irina Krush	2½ - ​​1½	Claudia Amura	43

2nd round

held on March 13 and 14, 2006

21st	Nana Dzagnidze	1½ - 2½	Ju Wenjun	53
5	Maia Chiburdanidze	1½ - ½	Ketewan Arachamia-Grant	60
4th	Alexandra Kostenjuk	2 - 0	Elina Danieljan	29
13	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	4 - 2	Ruan Lufei	45
16	Alissa Galljamova	3 - 1	Carolina Luján	48
1	Antoaneta Stefanova	1 - 3	Iweta Radziewicz	32
25th	Nino Khurzidze	1½ - ½	Maritza Arribas Robaina	57
24	Natalia Schukova	0 - 2	Hou Yifan	56
10	Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi	3 - 1	Lela Javakhishvili	23
26th	Svetlana Matveyeva	1½ - ½	Karen Zapata	58
2	Humpy Koneru	1 - 3	Marie Sebag	34
15th	Qin Kanying	2½ - ​​1½	Jovanka Houska	47
19th	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	1½ - ½	Maria Kursowa	51
3	Pia Cramling	½ - 1½	Peng Zhaoqin	35
6th	Xu Yuhua	1½ - ½	Anna Uschenina	38
11	Tatiana Kossinzewa	1½ - ½	Irina Krush	22nd

3rd round

held on March 15 and 16, 2006

5	Maia Chiburdanidze	4 - 2	Ju Wenjun	53
4th	Alexandra Kostenjuk	½ - 1½	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	13
16	Alissa Galljamova	2½ - ​​1½	Iweta Radziewicz	32
25th	Nino Khurzidze	2 - 0	Hou Yifan	56
10	Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi	½ - 1½	Svetlana Matveyeva	26th
15th	Qin Kanying	2 - 4	Marie Sebag	34
19th	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	2½ - ​​1½	Peng Zhaoqin	35
6th	Xu Yuhua	1½ - ½	Tatiana Kossinzewa	11

Quarter finals

held on March 18th and 19th, 2006

5	Maia Chiburdanidze	1 - 3	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	13
16	Alissa Galljamova	2 - 0	Nino Khurzidze	25th
26th	Svetlana Matveyeva	1½ - ½	Marie Sebag	34
6th	Xu Yuhua	2½ - ​​1½	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	19th

Semifinals

held on March 20 and 21, 2006

13	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	½ - 1½	Alissa Galljamova	16
6th	Xu Yuhua	1½ - ½	Svetlana Matveyeva	26th

World championship fight

The world championship match was held from March 23rd to 25th, 2006. Scheduled for four games with a classic cooling-off time, it was decided after the third round.

	1	2	3	Points
Alissa Galljamova	0	½	0	½
Xu Yuhua	1	½	1	2½

Web links

• World Championship at mark-weeks.com