Women's World Championship: Hou Yifan Wins Game 9 To Regain Her Title
In a dog-bites-man story, Hou Yifan won game 9 to finish off a relatively easy Women's World Championship match against Mariya Muzychuk. Muzychuk had won the title by winning a knockout event last year; Hou had skipped the event due to another commitment. Hou earned the match by winning the previous Grand Prix cycle, and regained the title she held from 2010-2012 and from 2013-2015 by defeating Muzychuk 6-3, winning three games, drawing six and losing none.
Going into the last game Muzychuk needed a win, as the match was a best-of-ten contest and Hou needed only a draw to regain her title. Hou tried to keep things safe on the white side of an old-fashioned Classical Sicilian with 6.Be2, but Muzychuk managed to inject some life into the game. Unfortunately for her, Hou played very well, neutralized Black's initiative on the kingside, and her typical queenside break through won the day. Muzychuk made no egregious errors; her opponent simply won a masterpiece on the way to reclaiming the crown. (The last three games can be replayed here, with my light annotations to the finale.)
Congratulations to the new/old champion!