How Does Hou Do It?
Bonjour, ChessKids! Hou Yifan is our new Women's World Chess Champion, and she is awesome! Today we will look at a few of her games from history. Can you identify all the tactics she used? By, Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl).
In our first example, in a game played last year when she was only 18, Hou Yifan bests my hero: Judit Polgar. It is White's move here. Can you find the move that made Polgar resign? If you need a hint, scroll to the bottom of the puzzle.
Hint: One of Black's pieces is trapped.
How about this one? Hou Yifan has Black. How does she win material?
Hint: What do you notice about the position of White's rooks? It's a skewer!
In this next position, Hou Yifan could easily just capture a hanging knight. But she noticed Black's rook is hanging, too! She found this awesome move that lured the king out further...do you see it?
Final puzzle: a double queen sacrifice! It's a mate-in-four but Marie Sebag resigned after three. Look for forcing moves!
OK--you got all that? 
Hou Yifan knows lots of cool tactics and that's how she wins a lot of games. (She also knows most everything else about chess - that's how she got to be World Champion!) Practice your tactics and you'll start to see them in your games, too!
Hou Yifan knows lots of cool tactics and that's how she wins a lot of games. (She also knows most everything else about chess - that's how she got to be World Champion!) Practice your tactics and you'll start to see them in your games, too!---
See ya next time. Bonne nuit!
RELATED STUDY MATERIAL
- Watch the Polgar sisters and their match from their chess festival - parts one, two and three;
- Watch Judit Polgar talk about her own life as a Chesskid, and the game that influenced her most!