The third game of the Women World Chess Championship has just finished and Yifan Hou once again failed to seize the advantage with White pieces. The opening was another Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall, only this time White temporarily held an extra pawn. Nevertheless, Black Queen and Bishops pair exerted a strong pressure on opponent's queenside and Yifan was forced to trade the Queens and give material back.

Kosteniuk's powerful 27...c4 gave her an upper hand in the ending. The Chinese somehow succeeded in trading the clumsy pieces down to the Rook ending, but she was already a pawn down with Black passer sitting only one square away from promotion. Timely 58. e5+ and 59. g4 probably saved Yifan from suffering another defeat, which would also mean that title goes to the Russian, and gave her a glimpse of hope that she could reach the tiebreaks by winning the last game. Current result: Kosteniuk - Yifan 2-1.

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Our thanks to www.chessdom.com for the above report.