chess
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Your support makes all the difference.Zsuzsa Polgar is the new women's world champion. She dethroned the defending champion, Xie Jun, by a convincing 81/2-41/2 in their match in Jaen, Spain, to take the title and a purse of pounds 85,000.
Women's chess has advanced considerably since the far-off days of the 1960s when Bobby Fischer confidently asserted that he could give any woman on earth knight odds. Now Judit Polgar is ranked in the world's top 10, and there are persistent rumours of negotiations for a match between her and Fischer, with no odds given by either player.
The Polgars led the way in the unisex chess revolution of the 1990s, with Judit - the youngest of the three sisters - never competing in women- only events, and Zsuzsa only now capturing the women's world title en passant, after establishing herself as a (men's) grandmaster.
Zsuzsa's title-winning play was generally powerfully competent rather than brilliant, and Xie Jun collapsed under the consistent pressure. The match ended with a whimper as the Chinese girl drifted into a passive position then blundered away a piece. She must have intended 15...Nxc4, only seeing too late how bad Black's position is after 16.Bh6 followed by Rfc1. The rest was pure misery.
White: Polgar Black: Xie Jun
1 d4 Nf6 13 bxc4 Qxc3
2 Nf3 g6 14 Qxc3 Bxc3
3 c4 Bg7 15 Rb1 Bg7
4 g3 0-0 16 Bf4 c6
5 Bg2 d5 17 dxc6 bxc6
6 cxd5 Nxd5 18 Bd6 Rd8
7 0-0 Nc6 19 c5 Nc4
8 e4 Nb6 20 e5 Ba6
9 d5 Na5 21 Rfc1 Rdc8
10 Qe1 Nac4 22 Bf1 Nxe5
11 Nc3 e6 23 Nxe5 Bxf1
12 b3 Qf6 24 Kxf1 1-0
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