The

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wher ...

2010 took place in

Antakya Antakya (), historically known as Antioch ( el, Ἀντιόχεια; hy, Անտիոք, Andiok), is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes Rive ...

, Turkey from December 2 through 24, 2010. The tournament, like the previous ones, was played in a 64-player knock-out format. Each pairing consisted of two games, one with white and one with black, from which the winner advanced. In case of a tie, tiebreaks were played the next day, consisting of two rapid games and—if still tied—an

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

match. The final consisted of four games at classical

time control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game cloc ...

, if necessary followed by four rapid tiebreak games. The title was won by

Hou Yifan Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time.

from China who beat her compatriot Ruan Lufei in the final by 5–3, at 16 years of age making her the youngest Women's World Chess Champion in history.

Participants

Players were seeded by their Elo ratings (November 2010 list),FIDE November 2010 Top 100 Women
/ref> except that defending champion

Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (russian: Алекса́ндра Константи́новна Костеню́к; born 23 April 1984) is a Russian chess grandmaster who is the former Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021, and the for ...

was the No. 1 seed.

Qualification paths

Notable absentees

The number one woman in the world,

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...

, never competed for the women's title and did not enter this time either. World number five,

Nadezhda Kosintseva Nadezhda Anatolyevna Kosintseva (russian: Надежда Анатольевна Косинцева; born 14 January 1985) is a Russian chess grandmaster. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team in the Women's Chess Olympiads of ...

, did not play either, although her sister Tatiana (ranked 4th) did. Other names missing from the top 20 were:

Irina Krush Irina Borisivna Krush ( uk, Ірина Борисівна Круш; born December 24, 1983) is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the first woman, and as of August 2022 the only woman, to earn the GM title while playing for the United States ...

(17th), former finalist

Alisa Galliamova Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Галлямова, tt-Cyrl, Алисә Михаил кызы Галләмова; born 18 January 1972 in Kazan) is a Russian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of Inte ...

(19th) and ex-champion

Xu Yuhua Xu Yuhua (born 29 October 1976) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and former Women's World Chess Championship, Women's World Champion (2006–2008). She was China's third women's world chess champion after Xie Jun and Zhu Che ...

(20th).

Iweta Rajlich Iweta Rajlich (born Radziewicz, 16 March 1981) is a Polish chess International Master and Woman Grandmaster, multiple winner of Women Chess Championships of Poland. She married Vasik Rajlich, the author of Rybka, on 19 August 2006. Iweta is the ...

and Arianne Caoili were listed as participants but unable to attend; their scheduled opponents,

Jovanka Houska Jovanka Houska (born 10 June 1980) is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a nine-time British Women's Chess Champion. Formative years Born in south London, her family name ste ...

and

Ju Wenjun Ju Wenjun (; born 31 January 1991) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She is the current Women's World Chess Champion. In March 2017 she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She is a three-time Women's World Chess Champion having w ...

, were given byes through to the second round.

Results

Final match

Bracket

References

External links

*
ChessBase: 2010 Women's World Chess Championship – Preview

FIDE calendar 2009 with continental and zonal championships standings
{{Women's World Chess Championships Women's World Chess Championships 2010 in chess Chess in Turkey Sport in Antakya 2010 in Turkish sport International sports competitions hosted by Turkey