- PeterDoggers
- on 03.09.14 08:00.
Hou Yifan of
China is on the verge of winning the overall 2013-2014 Women Grand
Prix. With three rounds to go, she tops the standings of the Sharjah GP together with her compatriot Ju Wenjun.More importantly, Hou Yifan is 3 points ahead of her closest rival in the Women GP: Humpy Koneru of India. If the women's world champion can keep a margin of 2.5 points in tomorrow's 9th round, she will be the overall winner no matter what happens on the last two days.
Besides, Hou Yifan's live rating
is now dangerously close to that of Judit Polgar's: 2670.8 vs 2675.0.
It's quite possible that at the end of the week, the women's rating list
will have a new number one, for the first time in 25 years.Recently Polgar announced her retirement. On her website she writes:
“In the
past quarter of a century, all my life centered on chess. I feel
eternally grateful for all the wonderful experiences it has granted me. I
am also beholden to those amazing people who have made this possible. I
am thankful to my family for their patient love and generosity, to my
fans for their unwavering support, to my trainers and team-members for
their resolve as well as to my opponents for their vigorous challenge.”
You can read the full statement here.So what happened in Sharjah in rounds 5-8? Let's have a look.
On Saturday Hou Yifan caught Ju Wenjun in first place. The latter drew very quickly with Tuvshintugs Batchimeg of Mongolia, while the Chinese GM outplayed Russia's Tatiana Kosintseva:
