defeated compatriot Zhao Xue (pictured below)
in their playoff match today in Antakya, Turkey, when she won the second game with the Black pieces. This means Ruan Lufei will now face
Hou Yifan (pictured above) in the final match to determine the new FIDE Women's World Chess Champion.Congratulations to Ruan for winning her playoff and best wishes to both her and Hou Yifan in the final match. This match will start on Monday and consist of a best-of-four games at the Classical time control, to win this final match one player must score 2.5 points in the four games. If the players are tied after 4 games then the Women's World Chess Championship title will be decided according to article 3.8 This regulation is stated as follows:
3. 8. 2. Round 6 (Final Match)
3. 8. 2. 1 If the scores are level after the regular games, after a new drawing of colours, four (4) tie break games shall be played.
The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes on the clock for each player with an addition of 10
seconds after each move.
3. 8. 2. 2 If the scores are level after the games in paragraph 3. 8. 2. 1, then, after a new drawing of colours, 2 five-minute
games shall be played with the addition of 10 seconds after each move.
3. 8. 2. 3. If the score is still level after the games in paragraph 3.8.2.2, the players shall play one sudden death game. The
player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. The player with the white pieces shall receive 5 minutes, the player
with the black pieces shall receive 4 minutes whereupon, after the 60th move, both players shall receive an increment of 3
seconds from move 61. The winner shall be declared Women’s World Champion. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces shall be declared Women’s World Champion.
source: http://wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr/images/stories/regulationsWWCC.pdf
The time control for this final match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one.the winner of the match shall be the first player to score 2.5 or more points. The winner of the final match will be rewarded with a $60,000 payment (U.S. dollars), while the loser will receive $30,000 (U.S. dollars). (This last sentence shows that sexism is alive and well in the F.I.D.E, and in professional chess, because the prize fund for the Anand-Topalov World Chess Championship was 2 million Euro – about 3 million US$ (source:http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/interviews&article_id=10.html ) ). According to the database Chessbase Megadatabase 2010, which I update weekly, Ruan Lufei and Hou Yifan have faced each other 7 times in their professional careers (with 2 of these games being at the rapid time control, and another 2 of these games being at blitz chess). Hou Yifan has won 2 games, lost one and the other 4 games between these two players have been draws. However, it should be noted that Yifan's victories came in rapid and blitz games and Ruan Lufei's victory over Hou Yifan came at a regular-time control game (in the 2.5 zonal tournament).
Here are the moves from both semi-final games of the Ruan Lufei -Zhao Xue match:
