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 professor at Peking University. She is the second-highest-rated female chess player in history. A chess prodigy, she became the youngest female player to earn the grandmaster title at age 14 years, 6 months, and 16 days. She also became the youngest female player to win the Women's World Chess Championship at age 16.

At age 12, Hou participated in the Women's World Championship in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and the Chess Olympiad in Torino, Italy. In June 2007, she became the youngest Chinese Women's Champion. 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 (2011, 2013, and 2016), with ten wins and fourteen draws against three opponents. She did not compete in the 2012, 2015, and 2017 championships, which used a knockout format.

Hou was the third woman to be ranked in 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 high rating compared to others. She was the world’s top-ranked woman from September 2015 until 2018, when she became less active. In 2017, she was included 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 when she was five years old. However, she became interested in the game when she was three. 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 displayed in the window. Later, he bought her a chess set. Within a few weeks, at the age of three, she was able to beat her father and grandmother at chess. In 1999, when Hou was five, her father hired a chess teacher, IM Tong Yuanming, to help her learn. Tong later described Hou as a special talent, noting her strong confidence, excellent memory, ability to calculate moves, and quick thinking. Hou has said she started playing chess because she was drawn to the pieces.

At the age of ten, Hou was accepted into the National Chess Center, an academy in Beijing that trains young players from across the country. She was trained by leading Chinese grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng. When Hou first played against Ye, who was the chief coach of the Chinese men’s and women’s chess teams, Ye was surprised that the nine-year-old could find most of his weak moves. Ye said, "Then I knew she was an exceptional genius." 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, Hou’s family moved to Beijing in 2003. Her mother, Wang Qian, who was once a nurse, traveled with her to many international tournaments during her childhood. Hou was homeschooled. As a teenager, she listed reading and studying as her main interests. She also listed Bobby Fischer as her favorite chess player.

In 2005, at the age of eleven, Hou became the youngest player to achieve a Woman Grandmaster norm. This record remained unbroken until 2025, when a ten-year-old named Bodhana Sivanandan surpassed it. In June 2007, at the age of fifteen, Hou became China’s youngest national chess champion.

Life outside chess

In 2012, she began studying International Relations at Peking University, even though her trainer did not support this choice. She took many classes and joined several activities outside of school. She received a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a master's degree in public policy at St Hilda's College, Oxford, through the Blavatnik School of Government. Experts have observed her success even though she had many school responsibilities and limited time to prepare for chess tournaments. Vladimir Kramnik stated, "If she wants to stay the top female player, she might not need to do much. But if she wants to reach her full potential, she must focus only on chess." Hou understands this, but she still chooses to treat chess as a hobby rather than a career. She said in 2018, "I want to be the best, but I also want to have a normal life." In 2020, when she was 26, Hou became the youngest professor ever at Shenzhen University. She teaches at the School of Physical Education, which includes chess in its sports training program.

Results

Hou Yifan's first major tournament was from August 31 to September 12, 2003, at 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 by finishing first in the girls' under-10 section of the World Youth Championship in Halkidiki, Greece, from October to November 2003. She scored 9½ out of 11 games (+8 =3 −0) with a performance rating of 2121. In November 2003, 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 January 1, 2004, Hou received her first International FIDE rating of 2168, which earned her the title of Woman FIDE Master. In April 2004, she played at the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Jinan, Shandong. She scored 1½ out of 7 games with a performance rating of 2096, facing an average opponent rating of 2316.

In November 2004, she tied for first place 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 (+8 =2 −1) with a performance rating of 2119 but finished third after tiebreaks.

At the 11th Asian Women's Championship in Beirut, Lebanon, from December 4 to 11, 2004, Hou scored 4½ out of 9 games (+4 =1 −4) with a performance rating of 2278. Wang Yu won the event with 6½ out of 9 games.

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

From June 28 to July 6, 2005, Hou played in the second China-France Youth Match in Shenzhen, Guangdong. She scored 3 out of 8 games (+2 =2 −4) with a performance rating of 2324. The Chinese team, including Hou, won the match 19–13.

In July 2005, Hou 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 July 18 to 29, Hou finished fifth in the Boys' Under-12 Section with 8 out of 11 games (+5 =6) and a performance rating of 2171.

In October 2005, Hou qualified for the World Women's Chess Championship in March 2006. Despite being rated 2220 and ranked 28th in China, she won the Chinese Women's Zonal (3.5) tournament with 6 out of 9 games and a performance rating of 2526, defeating several well-known players.

The sixth World Team Chess Championship took place in Beersheva, Israel, from October 31 to November 11. China entered two teams—the men's and women's teams, which was only the second time a women's team competed in a traditionally male event. Hou was the youngest participant at 11 years old and played as second reserve, scoring 0 out of 3 games. The Chinese women's team drew one match and lost the rest, finishing last. Russia won the tournament, and China's men's team finished second.

In December 2005, Hou finished second at the China Women Selective Tournament in Beijing for the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. She scored 16½ out of 28 games with a performance rating of 2433 and gained 121 Elo points. She joined the Olympiad team with Wang Yu and Shen Yang.

In March 2006, Hou reached the third round of the Women's World Chess Championship. She defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia (2480) 1½–½ and WGM Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine (2432) 2–0. She lost to IM Nino Khurtsidze of Georgia (2430) 0–2, finishing with a performance rating of 2504.

In May–June 2006, China won the bronze medal at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy, finishing third. Hou scored 11 out of 13 games (+10 =2 −1) on the fourth board, earning a silver medal for reserve board performance with a 2596 performance rating.

In August 2006, Hou competed in the Chinese Women's Team Championship in Hangzhou. She scored 6 out of 8 games on board one, helping her team win the tournament.

In October 2006, Hou played for the Chinese team at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. She scored 6 out of 8 games on board two, contributing to the team's bronze medal win.

In November 2006, Hou competed in the Chinese Women's Team Championship in Nanjing. She scored 6 out of 8 games on board one, helping her team win the tournament.

In December 2006, Hou finished second at the China Women Selective Tournament in Hangzhou for the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. She scored 8 out of 14 games (+6 =4 −4) with a performance rating of 2434.

From May 1 to 11, 2007, Hou played for Southern Ural Chelyabinsk in the eighth Russian Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Dagomys. She scored 6½ out of 10 games (+5 =3 −2) with a performance rating of 2523. At the 1st World Women's Team Chess Championship in Ekaterinburg, Hou was part of the winning China national team, which included Zhao Xue, R

Rating

In March 2015, Hou was ranked 2686 in the FIDE rating list. At that time, she was the world’s No. 59 player and the world’s No. 1 woman player, surpassing Judit Polgár’s rating for the first time. On July 1, 2006, Hou became the youngest player ever to appear in the Top 50 Women (ranked No. 8) and Top 20 Girls (ranked No. 2) FIDE lists. She was 12 years old and had a rating of 2488, which was the highest rating for a player her age since FIDE began publishing these lists in 2000.

Between the April 2006 and July 2006 FIDE rating lists, Hou’s rating increased by 190 points, from 2298 to 2488. This made her the eighth-highest-rated female player and the second-highest-rated girl in the world.

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

Openings

Hou Yifan usually plays the move 1.e4 as the player with the white pieces. When playing with the black pieces, she often uses the Sicilian Defence, which includes the Najdorf and Dragon variations, as well as the French Defence against 1.e4. When facing the move 1.d4, she typically chooses the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, or Queen's Indian defences.

Notable games

On January 25, 2008, Hou, playing as Black, defeated Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian (2676) from Armenia, who was Levon Aronian's longtime second, during the Corus tournament, Group B, in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

Views

Hou explained that there are several reasons for the low number of women competing at the highest level of chess. She noted that long chess games have physical demands that may benefit men more, and that men often practice chess more intensely during childhood. She used Chinese girls as an example, explaining that many choose to balance their time between chess and other important goals, such as attending university or starting a family. She also mentioned that girls who play chess are often only encouraged to compete in events for girls, which may reduce their desire to win at the highest level.