Women's World Chess Championship 2016
| Defending champion | Challenger |
 |
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 Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)
|
 Hou Yifan (CHN)
|
| 3 | 6 |
| Born 21 September 1992 23 years old |
Born 27 February 1994 22 years old |
| Winner of the 2015 World Championship |
Winner of the 2013–14 Grand Prix |
|
Rating: 2563 (Women's World No.4) |
Rating: 2667 (Women's World No.1) |
The Women's World Chess Championship 2016 was a chess match played between Mariya Muzychuk, the defending champion, and the challenger Hou Yifan to determine the FIDE Women's World Champion. The scheduled 10-game match was held from 1 to 14 March 2016 in Lviv, Ukraine. It was originally scheduled from 11 to 31 October 2015, but was delayed because no host could be found.
On March 14, Hou won the championship by defeating Muzychuk in Game 9, ending the match. As in her two previous championship matches, Hou Yifan won convincingly, not losing a single game.
The 2015 World Championship was a 64-player knockout tournament in Sochi, Russia, starting on 15 March. Hou Yifan did not enter the tournament, and so relinquished the title. The highest rated player was Humpy Koneru, but she was eliminated in the quarterfinals. The final was won by Mariya Muzychuk, who beat Natalia Pogonina 2.5–1.5.
The challenger qualified by winning the 2013–14 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The Grand Prix consisted of six single tournaments, with each player taking part in four of these. The first stage was won by Bela Khotenashvili. Humpy Koneru then won the second and third stage to take the overall points lead. After Hou Yifan won the fourth and fifth stage, only she and Koneru Humpy were in contention for the overall win. Both ELO-rating favorites entered the sixth stage in Sharjah, UAE, with Humpy leading Hou Yifan by 5 points. Needing at least 55 points and to finish above Humpy, Hou Yifan secured the overall Grand Prix win in round nine of eleven.
Prior to their 2016 World Championship match, Hou Yifan and Mariya Muzychik had played three standard games against each other. One ended in a draw, while the other two were won by Hou Yifan, both with the black pieces. In October 2015 both players participated in the first Grand Prix stage. Hou Yifan finished first, Muzychuk finished tied second. In the months before the tournament Mariya Muzychuk played in the men's edition of the Ukrainian championship in December 2015. That tournament was not only not broadcast live, but Muzychuk's games were not published at all. This was so as not to give Hou Yifan access to her games. Muzychuk finished tied 10th of 12 players. Hou Yifan played in the Tata Steel tournament in January 2016. After starting well with 3.5/6 she ended the tournament on 5/13, equal 12th in a field of 14.
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