World Women's Chess Championship 2010

The 2010 women's chess world championship was held in a knockout system. The Russian world champion Alexandra Kostenjuk failed in the 3rd round. As the new title holder, Hou Yifan brought the women's chess crown back to China. The venue for the World Cup was Antakya , where the title fights took place in December 2010. The main referee was Erdem Uçarkuş, deputy Aykut İlker Mete (both from Turkey ). 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 from 4th to 6th December 2010

1	Alexandra Kostenjuk	2 - 0	Amina Mezioud	64
32	Irina Turova	½ - 1½	Sopiko Khukhashvili	33
16	Ruan Lufei	2½ - ​​1½	Camilla Baginskaite	49
17th	Lilit Mkrtchjan	1 - 3	Zhang Xiaowen	48
8th	Pia Cramling	½ - 1½	Betül Cemre Yıldız	57
25th	Maria Musychuk	2 - 0	Deysi Cori	41
9	Harika Dronavalli	1½ - ½	Kruttika Nadig	56
24	Elina Danieljan	0 - 2	Tatiana Schadrina	40
4th	Tatiana Kossinzewa	2 - 0	Mona Khaled	61
29	Jelena Dembo	2½ - ​​1½	Batchujagiin Möngöntuul	36
13	Maia Chiburdanidze	2 - 0	Subbaraman Meenakshi	52
21st	Zhao Xue	1½ - ½	Martha Fierro	45
5	Nana Dzagnidze	2 - 0	Dina Kagramanov	60
27	Almira Scripcenco	3½ - 2½	Cristina-Adela Foișor	37
12	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	2 - 0	Julia Djomina	53
20th	Elisabeth Pähtz	3 - 1	Jolanta Zawadzka	44
3	Hou Yifan	2 - 0	Carla Heredia Serrano	62
30th	Natalia Schukova	½ - 1½	Marina Romanko	35
19th	Zhu Chen	2 - 0	Nafisa Muminova	46
14th	Monika Soćko	1½ - ½	Soumya Swaminathan	51
6th	Antoaneta Stefanova	2 - 0	Ingrid Aliaga Fernández	59
28	Anna Uschenina	1½ - 2½	Huang Qian	38
22nd	Hoàng Thanh Trang	2½ - ​​1½	Ding Yixin	43
11	Kateryna Lahno	1½ - ½	Kübra Öztürk	54
7th	Anna Musychuk	2 - 0	Marisa Zuriel	58
26th	Shen Yang	½ - 1½	Yevgenia Ovod	39
23	Natalia Pogonina	0 - 2	Baira Kowanowa	42
15th	Marie Sebag	2 - 0	Irina Vasilevich	50
18th	Anna Zatonskih	2 - 0	Maia Lomineishvili	47
2	Humpy Koneru	2 - 0	Melissa Greeff	63

The Chinese Ju Wenjun and the English Jovanka Houska made it into the second round without a fight because their opponents Iweta Rajlich and Arianne Caoili could not compete.

2nd round

held from 7th to 9th December 2010

1	Alexandra Kostenjuk	3 - 1	Sopiko Khukhashvili	33
16	Ruan Lufei	3 - 1	Zhang Xiaowen	48
25th	Maria Musychuk	2 - 0	Betül Cemre Yıldız	57
9	Harika Dronavalli	2 - 0	Tatiana Schadrina	40
4th	Tatiana Kossinzewa	½ - 1½	Jelena Dembo	29
13	Maia Chiburdanidze	½ - 1½	Zhao Xue	21st
5	Nana Dzagnidze	1 - 3	Almira Scripcenco	27
12	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	2½ - ​​1½	Elisabeth Pähtz	20th
3	Hou Yifan	1½ - ½	Marina Romanko	35
14th	Monika Soćko	1 - 3	Zhu Chen	19th
6th	Antoaneta Stefanova	1 - 3	Huang Qian	38
11	Kateryna Lahno	3 - 1	Hoàng Thanh Trang	22nd
7th	Anna Musychuk	1½ - ½	Yevgenia Ovod	39
10	Ju Wenjun	1½ - ½	Baira Kowanowa	42
15th	Marie Sebag	0 - 2	Anna Zatonskih	18th
2	Humpy Koneru	1½ - ½	Jovanka Houska	34

3rd round

held from 10th to 12th December 2010

1	Alexandra Kostenjuk	1½ - 2½	Ruan Lufei	16
9	Harika Dronavalli	4 - 3	Maria Musychuk	25th
21st	Zhao Xue	1½ - ½	Jelena Dembo	29
12	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	2 - 4	Almira Scripcenco	27
3	Hou Yifan	2½ - ​​1½	Zhu Chen	19th
11	Kateryna Lahno	1½ - ½	Huang Qian	38
7th	Anna Musychuk	½ - 1½	Ju Wenjun	10
2	Humpy Koneru	1½ - ½	Anna Zatonskih	18th

Quarter finals

held from 13th to 15th December 2010

9	Harika Dronavalli	1½ - 2½	Ruan Lufei	16
21st	Zhao Xue	1½ - ½	Almira Scripcenco	27
3	Hou Yifan	1½ - ½	Kateryna Lahno	11
2	Humpy Koneru	1½ - ½	Ju Wenjun	10

Semifinals

held from 16 to 18 December 2010

16	Ruan Lufei	2½ - ​​1½	Zhao Xue	21st
2	Humpy Koneru	½ - 1½	Hou Yifan	3

World championship fight

The world championship match was held from December 20 to 24, 2010. After a draw in the four games with a classic cooling-off period, the decision was made in four further rapid chess games.

	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	Points
Ruan Lufei	½	0	½	1	½	0	½	0	3
Hou Yifan	½	1	½	0	½	1	½	1	5

Web links

• World Championship at mark-weeks.com