Wednesday 1 December 2010

Women's World Chess Championship, Aralik (TUR), 2-25 December

Women's World Chess Championship, Aralik (TUR), 2-25 December
The Women's World Championship is being held in Aralik, Turkey, from 2-25 December 2010. It is a 64-player knock-out competition, with mini-matches of two longplay games and rapidplay/blitz tie-breaks as necessary. Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) is the title holder and nominally top seed (though she is 12th on rating). The favourites are probably Humpy Koneru (IND), Hou Yifan (CHN) and Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS), though the reigning champion punches above her rating in such events and must have a reasonable chance of retaining her title. England's Jovanka Houska (2421) is seeded 34th and in the first round meets Iweta Rajlich (POL, 2446, 31st seed). Official website:http://wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr/