Hou Yifan

Quick Facts

Full Name	Hou Yifan
Occupation	Chess Player
Date Of Birth	Feb 27, 1994(1994-02-27)
Age	30
Birthplace	Nanjing
Country	China
Horoscope	Aquarius

Hou Yifan Biography

Hou Yifan is one of the most popular and richest Chess Player who was born on February 27, 1994 in Nanjing, China. Hou participated in the European Chess Club Cup 2013, as a Cercle d’Echecs de Monte-Carlo member. She was on board 1 and scored 5/6 (+4 =2, TPR 2736). Her team won the round-robin competition 7-0. She participated in the SportAccord World Mind Games for chess from 12-18 December. There were three events in the tournament: rapid, blitz, and basque. Hou won the silver medal in the rapid event with a score of 5/7 (+3 = 4, and TPR 2691). With a score of 21.5/30 (+19 -6 =5), Hou won the gold medal in the blitz competition. Hou scored a perfect 9.0/10 on the second day of the Blitz Event. Hou took home the silver medal in tiebreaks, with a score of 7/10 (+7 -3).

Hou began playing chess at five years old. However, she was already fascinated with the game by three years of age. Hou Xuejian was a magistrate who took his daughter to a bookstore every night after dinner. He noticed that his daughter loved to look at the glass chess pieces through the window. Later, he bought his daughter her first set of chess pieces. After a few weeks, the three-year old was able beat her grandmother and father. Her father hired IM Tong Yuanming as a chess mentor for his five year-old daughter. Tong later stated that Hou had an extraordinary talent. She displayed “strong confidence”, distinguished memory, calculating abilities, and quick reaction. Hou said that she started chess because of her fascination with the pieces.

She was admitted to the National Chess Center, an academy for young talented players from all over the country, in Beijing when she was ten, with leading Chinese grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng as her trainers. In order to better support her chess career, her family relocated to Beijing in 2003. Hou’s mother, Wang Qian, a former nurse, accompanies her daughter on the international tournament circuit. Hou was homeschooled and as a teenager listed her interests as reading and studying, and her favorite chess player as Bobby Fischer. Her mother accompanied her to many international tournaments when she was young.

In 2003, Hou played against the chief coach of the Chinese national men’s and women’s chess teams, Ye Jiangchuan, for the first time. The chess master was surprised that the nine-year-old could identify almost all of his weak moves. “Then I knew she was an exceptional genius,” Ye said. That year, Hou became the youngest member of the national team and won first place at the World Youth Championship for girls under age ten. In June 2007, she became China’s youngest ever national champion.

Hou Yifan, Chinese: Hou Yi Fan; pinyin pronunciation: Hou Yan pronunciation (help *info)) was born 27 February 1994. She is a Chinese chess grandmaster who has also been a four-time Women’s World Chess Champion. She is a chess prodigy and the youngest woman to ever win the Women’s World Chess Championship.

Hou Yifan Net Worth

Hou Yifan is one of the richest Chess Player from China. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Hou Yifan 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Hou participated in the 2014 SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing, China from December 11-18. The Mind Games consist of three separate tournaments: rapid, blitz, and basque. She placed second in the rapid event and won the silver medal. Valentina Gunina was the eventual event winner. She was 5/7 (+4-1 = 3, rapid PPR 2672). With a score of 22.5/30 (+20 -5 = 5, rapid TPR 2672), she won the gold medal in blitz. Her performance in the blitz tournament was particularly noteworthy. It saw her officially increase her blitz rating from 2704 to make her the second female player to surpass the 2700 barrier in any rating format. Hou won another gold medal in the basque system final event with an 8.5/10 (+7 =3).

She participated in the 3rd Hainan Danzhou Grand Master Chess Tournament, which traditionally featured the 10 highest-rated Chinese players. However, Wang Hao and Li Chao, who were the highest rated players at that time, did not attend. Hou was seeded 6th based on rating and finished in 10th place with 3/9.

Hou Yifan’s first major tournament was on 31 August–12 September 2003 at the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Men’s) in Tianjin. She scored 3/7 with a 2246 performance rating.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Hou Yifan height Not available right now. Hou weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Hou Yifan Dating?

According to our records, Hou Yifan is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Hou Yifan’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Hou Yifan. You may help us to build the dating records for Hou Yifan!

China and France played for the Trophée MULTICOMS in Paris 4–9 September 2006. This was also a Scheveningen team match with six men and three women in the teams. France edged out China 20–16 in the men’s event. The women’s section was a complete mismatch in terms of Elo ratings in favour of the Chinese and they confirmed this over the board winning 12½–5½. The overall result was China 28½ France 25½. Hou Yifan was again the highest scoring female player with 5/6 and a performance rating of 2498.

Facts & Trivia

Hou Ranked on the list of most popular Chess Player. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in China. Hou Yifan celebrates birthday on February 27 of every year.

Hou reached the third round (the last 16) of the Women’s World Chess Championship in March 2006. Despite being rated 2269 and seeded 56th out of 64 players, she defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (rated 2480) of Russia 1½–½ in the first round, then the former 2000 European champion WGM Natalia Zhukova (2432) of Ukraine 2–0 in the 2nd round,. She was beaten 0–2 by IM Nino Khurtsidze (2430) of Georgia in the third round to finish with a performance rating of 2504.

Does Hou Yifan still play chess?

Hou Yifan
Ranking| No. 98 (September 2022)
Peak ranking| No. 55 (May 2015)

Who is the youngest female chess player?

Hou Yifan (14 years 6 months): Hou Yifan, the current number 1 ranked women’s chess player in the world, is also the youngest woman to get the Grandmaster title. She did get that at an early age of just 14 Years 6 months in 2008, to overtake Koneru Humpy as the youngest ever to reach this.

Who is the number 1 Grandmaster?

Magnus Carlsen
Website| magnuscarlsen.com/en/

Who is the highest rated female chess player?

Judit Polgár
Born| 23 July 1976 Budapest, Hungary
Title| Grandmaster (1991)
FIDE rating| 2675 (September 2022) [inactive since September 2015]
Peak rating| 2735 (July 2005)

Why is chess separated by gender?

The reason for a gender split in chess is to encourage more women to compete as men greatly outweigh women at all levels of competitive chess. Sometimes a woman playing in an absolute tournament can easily feel out of place if there is a lack of female presence.