2008 Hou Yifan

hou yifan @ 2008 world junior chess championship, gaziantep, turkey gained gm norm.

in april 2008, competed in mérida, spain @ 2nd ruy lopez chess festival tournament. in category xv (2616) round robin event finished 7th out of 8 players 2/7 (+1, =2, −4) , rating performance of 2467.

in may–june 2008, became chinese women s champion second consecutive time 9/11 points (+7 =4 -0) in beijing , performance of 2599. @ july 2008 first saturday gm tournament in budapest, hou top seed, came in second place 9/12, missing gm norm half point. performance rating 2574.

in august 2008 competed in world junior chess championship held @ gazientep, turkey competed in general ( boys ) section first time in career. girl in section , 16th seed on entrant s list. hou finished joint 3rd–7th on 9/13 (+6 =6 -1), achieving performance rating of 2661 , second gm norm.

in september 2008, fide referred gm-elect , indicating atatürk norm had been confirmed. meant hou yifan qualified grandmaster title in august @ age of 14 years 6 months 2 days, making 1 of youngest grandmasters in history, youngest female.

in august–september 2008, competed in second women s world chess championship @ nalchik, russia. had qualified being 1 of 6 highest rated players average of july 2006–january 2007 period. in knockout tournament, seeded 3rd out of 64 players. defeated wgm mona khaled (egypt) 2–0 in first round , wgm bathuyang mongontuul (mongolia), 2–0 in second. in third round, had go rapid playoffs beat im elena sedina (italy) 3–1 (1–1, 2–0). in quarterfinals defeated armenian im lilit mkrtchian 1½–½, followed indian gm humpy koneru, second seed, in semifinals (4–2 overall, 1–1, 1–1, 2–0). lost final alexandra kosteniuk of russia, 2½–1½. nonetheless became youngest ever finalist women s world championship title, earning automatic international master (im) title , runner-up 9-game grandmaster norm , fourth gm norm overall. performance rating entire championship 2536.

hou participated @ 1st world mind sports games in beijing 3–18 october member of chinese team, winning bronze medal in women s individual blitz event, gold medal in mixed pairs rapid event (with ni hua), silver medal in women s teams blitz event, , gold medal in women s teams rapid event. in mid-late october, playing board 1 team spartak vidnoe in 13th european club cup held in kallithea, greece scored 2/4 (+1 -1 =2, tpr 2448) helping team 2nd-place finish. shortly thereafter played in cap d agde rapid tournament 24 october 1 november, losing former world champion anatoly karpov in tiebreaker match @ end of qualifying stage, despite winning second tiebreak game.

at 38th chess olympiad in dresden 12–25 november, played @ no. 1 board in chinese women s team. although team did not win prize, still placed third in individual board prize. played in every round final result of 7½/11 (+5, =5, −1, tpr 2563).

at 79th fide congress, held on 16–26 november 2008 in dresden, germany, gm title approved making 27th chinese grandmaster. 3 approved gm norms were:

aeroflot open tournament a1 in moscow, february 2008; score 4½/9 (requirement=4½ points)
world junior chess championship in gaziantep, august 2008; score 9/13 (requirement=8 points)
world women s chess championship in nalchik, september 2008; reached final round (equivalent 9-game gm norm).




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^ yifan hou scored gm norm @ aeroflot . susanpolgar.blogspot.com. 22 february 2008. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ atatürk istanbul: hou yifan wins atatürk masters . chessbase.com. retrieved 2011-12-03. 
^ atatürk international women masters chess tournament . awm2008.tsf.org.tr. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ barden, leonard (29 march 2008). chess . london, uk: guardian. 
^ second ruy lópez international chess festival in mérida . chessbase.com. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ michael adams wins second ruy lópez international in mérida . chessbase.com. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ chinese championships twic
^ [1], tournament report, ratings.fide.com; accessed 27 april 2014.
^ hou yifan misses gm norm, 19 july 2008
^ world junior chess championship starting rank list . 
^ world junior chess championship final ranking . 
^ world junior chess championship norms . 
^ wwcc – nalchik 2008 – , there four!, fide.com, 9 september 2008
^ 1.0. requirements titles designated in 0.31, fide handbook
^ site officiel des 8èmes rencontres nationales et internationales d echecs – cap d agde 2008 . capechecs.com. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ karpov , ivanchuk in semi-finals of cap d agde . chessbase.com. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ chess olympiad dresden 2008, teams . tournaments.chessdom.com. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ olympiad in dresden: closing ceremony , prize giving . chessbase.com. 29 november 2008. retrieved 3 december 2011. 
^ tournament-database of chess-results, olympiad dresden 2008 women; accessed 25 april 2014.
^ titles awarded @ 79th fide congress in dresden, germany (16–26 november 2008)
^ grandmaster gm norms application . retrieved 3 december 2011.