Hou Yifan (Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán; born February 27, 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion, and a professor at Peking University. She is the second-highest-rated female chess player in history. A young talent in chess, she became the youngest female player to earn the grandmaster title (at age 14 years, 6 months, and 16 days) and the youngest to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16).

At age 12, Hou participated in the Women's World Championship (Yekaterinburg 2006) and the Chess Olympiad (Torino 2006). In June 2007, she became the youngest Chinese Women's Champion ever. She earned the title of Woman FIDE Master in January 2004, Woman Grandmaster in January 2007, and Grandmaster in August 2008. In 2010, she won the Women's World Championship in Hatay, Turkey, at age 16. She won the next three championships (in 2011, 2013, and 2016), with ten wins and fourteen draws against three opponents. However, she was eliminated early or chose not to compete in championships decided by knockout tournaments in 2012, 2015, and 2017.

Hou was the third woman to be ranked among the world’s top 100 players (2014–16 and 2017–22), following Maia Chiburdanidze and Judit Polgár. After Polgár retired, Hou was considered the strongest active female player, with a large rating lead over others. She was the No. 1 ranked woman in the world since September 2015 but has been less active since 2018. In 2017, she was named in the BBC’s 100 Women program. In 2020, she became the youngest professor at Shenzhen University at age 26 and later joined Peking University.

Career

Hou began playing chess regularly at age five, but she became interested in the game when she was three years old. Her father, Hou Xuejian, who worked as a government official, often took her to a bookstore after dinner. He noticed that she would look at glass chess pieces in the window for a long time. Later, he bought her a chess set, and within a few weeks, at age three, she was able to beat her father and grandmother at the game. In 1999, her father hired a chess teacher, IM Tong Yuanming, to help her when she was five years old. Tong later said Hou had special abilities, including strong confidence, a good memory, the ability to think through problems, and quick thinking. Hou has said she started playing chess because she was interested in the pieces.

At age ten, Hou was accepted into the National Chess Center, a school in Beijing that trains young talented players from across the country. She was trained by leading Chinese grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng. When she first played against Ye, who was the chief coach of the Chinese men’s and women’s chess teams, he was surprised that the nine-year-old could recognize most 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 ten years old.

To support her chess career, her family moved to Beijing in 2003. Her mother, Wang Qian, who was once a nurse, traveled with her to many international chess competitions when Hou was young. Hou was homeschooled. As a teenager, she listed reading and studying as her interests and named Bobby Fischer as her favorite chess player.

In 2005, at age eleven, Hou became the youngest player to earn a Woman Grandmaster norm. This record was not broken until 2025, when a ten-year-old named Bodhana Sivanandan achieved the same. In June 2007, Yifan became China’s youngest national chess champion.

Life outside chess

In 2012, she enrolled at Peking University against her trainer's wishes, studying International Relations. She took many classes and joined several activities outside of school. She earned a Rhodes Scholarship and later studied for a Master of Public Policy at St Hilda's College, Oxford, through the Blavatnik School of Government. Observers have noted her success in balancing her studies with limited time for chess competitions. Vladimir Kramnik said, "If she wants to stay the top female player, she might not be able to do anything. If she wants to reach her full potential, she must focus entirely on chess." Hou understands this, but she still treats chess as a hobby rather than a job. In 2018, she said, "I want to be the best, but I also want to have a life."

In 2020, at age 26, Hou became the youngest professor ever at Shenzhen University. She teaches at the School of Physical Education, where chess is part of the Sports Training Program.

Results

In August 2003, Hou Yifan participated in her first major tournament, the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Open) in Tianjin. She scored 3 out of 7 games with a performance rating of 2246. She won her first international tournament in October–November 2003. She came first in the girls' under-10 section of the World Youth Championship in Halkidiki, Greece, with a score of 9½ out of 11 games (9½/11; +8 =3 −0) and a performance rating (TPR) of 2121. In November, she competed in the National Women's Chess Championship in Shanwei, Guangdong. She finished 14th with 3½ out of 9 games and a performance rating of 2202.

On 1 January 2004, Hou Yifan received her first International FIDE rating of 2168. This automatically earned her the title of Woman FIDE Master. In April 2004, she competed in the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Jinan, Shandong. She scored 1½ out of 7 games (TPR 2096) against an average opposition rating (Rc) of 2316.

In November 2004, Hou Yifan finished first jointly with Yu Yangyi, Jules Moussard, and Raymond Song in the boys' under-10 section of the World Youth Championship in Heraklio, Crete. She scored 9 out of 11 games (9/11; +8 =2 −1) with a performance rating (TPR) of 2119 but placed third after tiebreaks.

At the 11th Asian Women's Championship in Beirut, Lebanon, from 4–11 December 2004, Hou Yifan finished 11th with 4½ out of 9 games (+4 =1 −4; TPR 2278). Wang Yu won the event with 6½ out of 9 games.

In February 2005, Hou Yifan competed at the fourth Aeroflot Open (Group C) in Moscow. She scored 2 out of 5 games (TPR 2111). In April 2005, she finished fifth in the Three Arrows Cup 2005 ladies' tournament in Jinan, China, with a score of 7 out of 11 games (+6 =2 −3). She tied for fourth place and defeated international master Almira Skripchenko. Her performance rating was 2393.

From 28 June–6 July 2005, Hou Yifan competed in the second China-France Youth Match in Shenzhen, Guangdong. She scored 3 out of 8 games (+2 =2 −4, TPR 2324). The Chinese team (Zhou Jianchao, Zhao Jun, Zhao Xue, and Hou) won the match 19–13.

In July 2005, Hou Yifan came second out of 75 players at the Festival Open International des Jeunes in Saint-Lô, France, with 6 out of 8 games (TPR 2305), behind Wen Yang. At the World Youth Chess Championship in Belfort, France, from 18–29 July 2005, Hou Yifan, seeded eighth, finished fifth in the Boys' Under-12 Section with 8 out of 11 games (+5 =6, TPR 2171).

In October 2005, Hou Yifan qualified for the World Women's Chess Championship to be held in March 2006. She won the Chinese Women's Zonal (3.5) tournament with a score of 9 out of 11 games (+9 =2 −0) and a performance rating of 2350. Her rating of 2168 earned her the title of Woman FIDE Master.

In October 2005, Hou Yifan competed in the China Women Selective Tournament in Ningbo for the 2006 Asian Indoor Games. She scored 8 out of 14 games (+6 =4 −4, TPR 2434).

From 1–11 May 2007, Hou Yifan participated in the eighth Russian Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Dagomys. She played for Southern Ural Chelyabinsk on board one and scored 6½ out of 10 games (+5 =3 −2, TPR 2523). At the 1st World Women's Team Chess Championship in Ekaterinburg later that month, Hou Yifan was part of the winning China national team. She played on board two in every round.

Rating

In March 2015, Hou had a rating of 2686 on the FIDE list. At that time, she was ranked 59th in the world and was the highest-ranked female player globally, surpassing Judit Polgár’s previous rating. On July 1, 2006, Hou became the youngest player ever to enter the Top 50 Women (ranked 8th) and Top 20 Girls (ranked 2nd) FIDE lists at age 12, with a rating of 2488. This achievement occurred after FIDE began publishing these lists in 2000.

Between April and July 2006, Hou’s rating increased by 190 points, rising from 2298 to 2488. During this time, she was the eighth-highest-rated female player and the second-highest-rated girl in the world.

Hou won the Caissa Cup, an honorary title for the best female player of the year, four times in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

Openings

Hou Yifan usually plays the move 1.e4 when she is White. When she is Black, she often uses the Sicilian Defence, which includes the Najdorf and Dragon variations, as well as the French Defence against 1.e4. Against the move 1.d4, she typically plays the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and Queen's Indian defences.

Notable games

On January 25, 2008, Hou, playing as Black, defeated Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian (2676) of Armenia, who was a longtime assistant to Levon Aronian, in the Corus Tournament, Group B, in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

Views

Hou explained that there are several reasons for the small number of female chess players at the highest level. She mentioned that long chess games may have physical challenges that could help men perform better, and that men often practice chess more intensely than women during childhood. She used the example of Chinese girls, noting that many choose to focus on school and family life rather than dedicating as much time to chess. She also pointed out that girls who play chess are sometimes only encouraged to compete in events for female players, which may reduce their desire to aim for the highest levels of competition.