Hou Yifan Storms Into Quarterfinals With 6-Game Winning Streak
Women's world number one Hou Yifan is through to the Quarterfinals of the 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship after defeating qualifier IM Anastasia Bodnaruk 7.5-5.5. The final scoreline looks close after Bodnaruk won the last four games, but an earlier six-game winning streak by defending champion Hou had given her an all-but-unassailable lead.
The next Round-of-16 matches take place on Wednesday, August 28, with GM Vaishali Rameshbabu vs. IM Eline Roebers starting at 9.30 a.m. ET / 15.30 CEST / 7 p.m. IST, before IM Alice Lee vs. IM Sara Khadem follows.
Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship Bracket
"She really showed some good fighting spirit," said Hou of her opponent, and that was especially true of the 5+1 and 1+1 sections—in the 3+1, however, Hou scored a 4-0 whitewash that all but clinched the match.
- 5+1: Hou Yifan 2.5-1.5 Anastasia Bodnaruk
- 3+1: Hou Yifan 4-0 Anastasia Bodnaruk
- 1+1: Hou Yifan 1-4 Anastasia Bodnaruk
5+1: Hou Yifan 2.5-1.5 Anastasia Bodnaruk
The most interesting games of the match came in the first 45-minute section when the players had five minutes for all their moves plus one second added after each move. Hou described it as "very intense:"
I thought it was a very interesting match, especially the first segment, 5+1. I thought that it was very intense in general. I won my first game. I thought it was OK, but then I lost my second without so many chances. The Nd5 sacrifice was just wonderful!
The Nd5 sacrifice was just wonderful!
—Hou Yifan
After a very convincing first win for Hou, Bodnaruk's knight sacrifice was a wake-up call.
The Chinese former world champion tried to hit back with a knight sacrifice of her own, but it only accelerated her demise.
Hou felt that game three, the only draw of the match, was the turning point since, after a good opening, she got into trouble... twice. She explained:
In game three I thought I was lucky because I was trying to put pressure but at one moment I blundered this e4, that’s what I realized, and also the final endgame I felt like I pushed a little too much and I was lucky to hold that one.
The blunder of the e4-pawn was missed by her opponent, as was a chance to win right at the end!
Hou then restored her lead with a smooth win with the black pieces to end the 5+1 section.
3+1: Hou Yifan 4-0 Anastasia Bodnaruk
The first game of 3+1 was typical of how the women's number-one won her games—she gradually maneuvered until all her pieces were superior, and her opponent, getting squeezed off the board, went for a rash pawn push that was quickly punished.
The next two 3+1 games also went Hou's way, though she remembered her final win best:
Especially the last game, I still remember, because I was completely much worse with this Kf8-e7 and somehow managed to survive in the endgame.
She didn't just survive but won when Bodnaruk lost on time in a position that was tricky but holdable with best play.
Disaster for Anastasia Bodnaruk as she loses the last 3-minute game on time. Hou Yifan won the 3-minute section 4-0 and now has a 5-point lead! https://t.co/r4h7ToilvX#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/lUV4XJhzSr
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 26, 2024
That meant Hou ended the three-minute games with a five-point lead.
1+1: Hou Yifan 1-4 Anastasia Bodnaruk
It soon became six, despite the defending champion opening with the Polish Opening, also known as the Orangutan—1.b4!?.
It worked to perfection, as she went on to win smoothly and take a lead that couldn't be bridged—the 15 minutes set aside for the one-minute games wouldn't suffice to play another six games, even if Bodnaruk could win them all.
Nevertheless, she did go on to win the final four games before the match clock ran out!
After 6 losses in a row, Anastasia Bodnaruk finally picks up a win as Hou Yifan loses on time! https://t.co/p4a56bIm2C #SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/8LGcgDiQMa
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 26, 2024
The fourth bullet game was not the kind of mistake we're used to seeing from the former world champion. Can you see how Bodnaruk won a piece after Hou's unfortunate knight move to g7? White to play and win!
Bodnaruk also won the last game, but while the score was highly respectable, the match had never been in doubt since midway through the three-minute segment. Hou was happy it was over.
Anastasia Bodnaruk won the final 4 games but it wasn't enough to avoid a 7.5-5.5 victory for Hou Yifan, who will play Polina Shuvalova in the Women's #SpeedChess Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/ngMZbdBlXT
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 26, 2024
Hou, whose day job now is lecturing on chess and international communication at a Beijing university, revealed that she'd done little work in the run-up to the tournament.
To be honest, nothing special has been done so far! I just played a couple of warm-up blitz games, and I believe for Speed Chess a very important part, or very exciting part that attracts me to play every time, is that you actually don’t need any special preparation. Even if you did a lot, that might not show in your match. It’s like you come to the board, in front of a laptop, and you never know what’s going to happen today, and you just have to be ready yourself for every single game and just enjoy this process, and hopefully, our chess fans will also feel something similar!
I believe for Speed Chess a very important part, or very exciting part that attracts me to play every time, is that you actually don't need any special preparation.
—Hou Yifan
Hou will now play IM Polina Shuvalova in the Quarterfinals, which she noted will be the same as their first-round match in 2023 when there were only eight players in the tournament. Back then, a seven-game winning streak mid-match saw Hou win 13.5-7.5.
Meanwhile, the Round-of-16 matches continue this Wednesday with a youthful double-header!
Don't miss it!
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on Twitch and YouTube. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Jovanka Houska and GM Benjamin Bok.
The Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls. Four places go to the winners of four Play-ins held on August 12-16 and open to all female titled players. In each Play-in the top four players in a Swiss qualify to compete in a knockout.
Previous coverage:
- Shuvalova, Lagno Prevail In Nail-Biting Encounters
- Ju Wenjun Wins With 10-Point Margin, Nearly Goes Undefeated
- Bodnaruk Wins Play-In 4 Despite Great Fightbacks By Ismayil
- Eline Roebers Wins Play-In 3 Despite Competing From Train
- IM Mai Narva Wins WSCC Play-In 2 Convincingly
- WIM Alua Nurman Keeps Her Cool To Win First WSCC Play-In
- Announcing The 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
