BOTW 2016.02.29
Women's World Championship
March 1-18, 2016.
World Champion Mariya Muzychuk vs Hou Yifan
A 10-game match in Lviv, Ukraine. First player to 5.5 points is the World Champion. If tied after 10 games there will be a 4-game rapid match, followed (if necesssary) by blitz and an Armageddon game.
Game 1 is March 2; all games start at 3pm local time (8am EST).
Mariya Muzychuk, won the title in 2015 at the Knock-out championship in Sochi where she defeated Yuanling Yuan (CAN), Monika Socko, Antoaneta Stefanova, Humpy Konery, Harika Dronavalli, and Natalia Pogonina. She is currently rated 2554, which places her =4th among women. She is 23 and lives in Ukraine.
Hou Yifan, is the former World Champion (2010-2012, 2013-2015) and #1 rated woman in the world: 2673. She has won two previous matches for the Women's World Championship, each time without losing a single game: in 2011 against Humpy Koneru (+3 =5 -0), and in 2013 over Anna Ushenina (+4 =3 -0). She also has match wins over GM David Navara in 2013 (=4, won in Armageddon), and GM Parimarjan Negi in 2015 (11-7). She is 22 and lives in Beijing.
Homepage
About the Players
Hou Yifan interviewed by GM Daniel King at the 2014 Tromso Olympiad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifry7ii4BbI
Yifan and GM Yasser Seirawan review her great win over GM David Navara at the 2016 TATA steel event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBZJlACnn-c
Mariya Muzychuk gives a Master Class from Gibraltar 2016:
https://youtu.be/J8A8PrNjZzA?t=3571
Closing Ceremonies and Interveiw after 2015 World Championship win (Russian)
https://youtu.be/EdgfuG8mwT4?t=1016
photo is from the 2015 Women's World Cup.