China's Xu Yuhua took the first step towards winning her first
world crown after taking the lead againt Russian favorite Alisa
Galliamova at the 2006 Women's Chess World Championships yesterday
in Russia.
Xu played Black in her favorite French defense to defeat
Galliamova after 65 moves to lead 1-0 at the four-game finals.
Galliamova played White to start the match. She made some active
moves in Queen ending which led to the weakening of pawns' position
on King's side.
Xu took the benefit from it. The position of White was getting
worse with every passing move and soon the destiny of the game was
at risk. Black advantaged with one pawn up. The Russian player
admitted defeat.
At the press conference Xu Yuhua said that her opening wasn't
that successful for she failed to find the best variant during her
home preparation. In the middle game the situation improved. She
took benefit of her opponents' fouls, got an advantage and finally
won.
(CRI English March 24, 2006)