This week's articles:
- Spring Break Chess Camps: Toronto and Ottawa
- Women’s World Championship
Spring Break Chess Camps: Toronto and Ottawa
Over 60 young chess players took part in Chess’n Math camps over spring break from 14 to 18 March. The camps were held at the Chess Studio in Toronto and at Parkdale United in Ottawa.Groups were divided by age and skill level. Activities included classroom lessons, practice sessions, and tournament games. But the favourite thing for many kids is playing bughouse chess. Two teams of two players on two boards, swapping pieces at blitz speed. Guaranteed fun.
Here is a video showing the enjoyable atmosphere at one of the Chess’n Math camps.
Visit the following link to see the rated tournament results from the: Toronto chess camp
Women’s World Championship
The 2016 Women’s World Chess Championship was held at the Polocki Palace in Lviv, Ukraine from March 1 to 14. Reigning champion Mariya Muzychuk and challenger Hou Yifan played a best of ten game match to decide the title.
The winner, without a loss by a score of 6 - 3, was Hou Yifan. The 26 year old grandmaster is from Jiangsu province in central China. For her victory, she received a trophy, a medal, and a very strange crown. Plus 120,000 euros ($175,000 Canadian).
It is the third time that Hou Yifan has been women’s world champion. She was the youngest player to ever win the title in 2010 when she was sixteen. In 2012, she lost in the championship tournament, but regained the crown the following year in a match against Anna Ushenina (Ukraine). Hou Yifan did not compete in the 2015 women’s championship, which was won by Mariya Muzychuk.
Hou Yifan is currently the highest rated woman in the world at 2667, ranking her 73rd among all players. The only woman to have achieved a higher rating is Judit Polgar (Hungary) who peaked at 2735, ranking 8th in the world (2005). She retired from competition in 2014.
Hou Yifan vs. Mariya Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk, who is from Lviv, enjoyed a year as champion. And the good news: the loser’s prize in this match was 80,000 euros. Not bad for a couple weeks of chess.
Photos by Vitaly Hrabar. For information and many more pictures from this event, visit the official site at http://lviv2016.fide.com/