Hou Yifan takes Kuala Lumpur chess

Chinese WGM Hou Yifan just won the 2010 Kuala Lumpur chess open. She's just sixteen years of age and is already comfortable mixing it up with the big guys. Hou finished with 7.5 points for possible 9 points and was undefeated, ahead of Vietnamese grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung. 2009 PGMA Cup winner, Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia came up in third place.

Pinoy FM Julius de Ramos is the best performer among the five Filipinos who saw action in the event, finishing in 13th place with 6.0 points. Also Filipino IM Kim Steven Yap finished the tourney with same score of 6.0 points but ended up in 19th place. IM Oliver Dimakiling, Ian Udani and Paolo Bersamina completed the list.

Although the main objective is the boost to this twelve year old kid international exposure, it is notable that in the first round, Bersamina upsets Somak Palit of India who has a rating to boast of 400 points over his young Pinoy opponent.

Final standings is here.
KL Open website