Hou Yifan is 1st woman to enter Champions Chess Tournament

MADRID, 21 June 2021:

Women’s chess rankings leader Hou Yifan will be the first woman to compete in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour during the Goldmoney Asian Rapid starting June 26.

Chinese national Yifan stands in the 84th place of the International Chess Federation’s overall rankings including both men and women.

She will be facing grandmasters of the likes of Magnus Carlsen, the current world champion, as well as other top 10 heavyweights like Ding Liren (3), Levon Aronian (5) and Anish Giri (6).

No woman had previously entered this phase of the Champions Tour before, which will take the form of a battle royale to determine the eight finalists to enter the qualifying rounds.

The 16 participants have an average ELO rating of 2,716.8 and an average 26 years of age.

– EFE