2008 Women's World Chess Championship

The 2008 women's chess world championship was held in a knockout system. The previous world champion Xu Yuhua failed in the 2nd round. The new title holder was the Russian player Alexandra Kostenjuk . The venue for the World Cup was Nalchik , where the title fights took place in August and September 2008. The main judge was Zsuzsa Verőci from Hungary , deputy Mikko Markkula ( Finland ). With the exception of the finals, the players 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.

Short term resignations

A total of eleven of the invited players, including all representatives from Georgia , did not travel to the World Cup. The majority expressed their reservations in connection with the 2008 Caucasus War . Since the starting field and the seeding list were no longer changed, there were various byes in the first two rounds.

1 round

held from August 29th to 31st, 2008

1	Xu Yuhua	1½ - ½	Anzel Solomons	64
16	Elisabeth Pähtz	4 - 3	Ilaha Kadimova	49
17th	Anna Uschenina	1½ - ½	Lê Thanh Tú	48
8th	Tatiana Kossinzewa	2 - 0	Nafisa Muminova	57
9	Alexandra Kostenjuk	2 - 0	Atousa Pourkashiyan	56
29	Nataša Bojković	1½ - 2½	Ju Wenjun	36
13	Natalia Schukova	1½ - 2½	Katerina Rohonyan	52
20th	Inna Gaponenko	1½ - ½	Zhang Jilin	45
5	Pia Cramling	1½ - ½	Sarai Sanchez Castillo	60
28	Tania Sachdev	½ - 1½	Tan Zhongyi	37
12	Ruan Lufei	1½ - ½	Irina Sakurdyaeva	53
3	Hou Yifan	2 - 0	Mona Khaled	62
30th	Iweta Rajlich	0 - 2	Batchujagiin Möngöntuul	35
27	Lilit Mkrtchjan	3½ - 2½	Eva Moser	38
22nd	Harika Dronavalli	2 - 0	Wera Nebolsina	43
11	Anna Musychuk	2 - 0	Maria Weltschewa	54
7th	Zhao Xue	2 - 0	Marisa Zuriel	58
26th	Shen Yang	1½ - ½	Ketino Kachiani-Gersinska	39
23	Nadezhda Kosinzeva	2 - 0	Nisha Mohota	42
10	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	1½ - ½	Valentina Golubenko	55
15th	Hoàng Thanh Trang	1½ - ½	Maritza Arribas Robaina	50
18th	Monika Soćko	4 - 3	Sabina-Francesca Foișor	47
2	Humpy Koneru	2 - 0	Yorsa Alaa El Din	63

Without a fight, Swetlana Matwejewa , Anna Zatonskih , Antoaneta Stefanowa , Claudia Amura , Elena Sedina, Nguyễn Thị Thanh An and Anna Gasik got into the second round .

2nd round

held on 1st to 3rd September 2008

1	Xu Yuhua	½ - 1½	Svetlana Matveyeva	33
16	Elisabeth Pähtz	½ - 1½	Anna Uschenina	17th
8th	Tatiana Kossinzewa	1½ - ½	Anna Zatonskih	25th
4th	Antoaneta Stefanova	3 - 1	Ju Wenjun	36
20th	Inna Gaponenko	2½ - ​​1½	Katerina Rohonyan	44
5	Pia Cramling	1½ - ½	Tan Zhongyi	37
12	Ruan Lufei	1½ - ½	Claudia Amura	53
3	Hou Yifan	2 - 0	Batchujagiin Möngöntuul	35
46	Elena Sedina	3 - 1	Nguyễn Thị Thanh An	51
27	Lilit Mkrtchjan	1½ - ½	Anna Gasik	59
11	Anna Musychuk	1½ - 2½	Harika Dronavalli	22nd
7th	Zhao Xue	½ - 1½	Shen Yang	26th
10	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	1½ - 2½	Nadezhda Kosinzeva	23
15th	Hoàng Thanh Trang	1½ - ½	Monika Soćko	18th

Without a fight came into the third round: Alexandra Kostenjuk and Humpy Koneru .

3rd round

held on September 4th to 6th, 2008

17th	Anna Uschenina	2 - 0	Svetlana Matveyeva	33
8th	Tatiana Kossinzewa	½ - 1½	Alexandra Kostenjuk	9
4th	Antoaneta Stefanova	2 - 0	Inna Gaponenko	20th
5	Pia Cramling	1½ - ½	Ruan Lufei	12
3	Hou Yifan	3 - 1	Elena Sedina	46
27	Lilit Mkrtchjan	1½ - ½	Harika Dronavalli	22nd
26th	Shen Yang	3½ - 2½	Nadezhda Kosinzeva	23
2	Humpy Koneru	1½ - ½	Hoàng Thanh Trang	15th

Quarter finals

held on September 7th to 9th, 2008

9	Alexandra Kostenjuk	1½ - ½	Anna Uschenina	17th
4th	Antoaneta Stefanova	½ - 1½	Pia Cramling	5
3	Hou Yifan	1½ - ½	Lilit Mkrtchjan	27
2	Humpy Koneru	2 - 0	Shen Yang	26th

Semifinals

held on September 10th to 12th, 2008

5	Pia Cramling	½ - 1½	Alexandra Kostenjuk	9
2	Humpy Koneru	2 - 4	Hou Yifan	3

World championship fight

The world championship match was held from September 14th to 17th, 2008.

	1	2	3	4th	Total
Alexandra Kostenjuk	1	½	½	½	2½
Hou Yifan	0	½	½	½	1½

Web links

• World Championship at mark-weeks.com