Breathless

On December 2, 2011 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) landed back in a snowy 北京 (Běijīng) after successfully defending her title in the Women’s World Chess Championship 2011 in Tirana, Albania against Humpy Koneru. But now was not yet the time to rest on her laurels: “I will go to 天津 (Tiānjīn) tomorrow to prepare for the last rounds of the Chinese Chess League. I will be there until December 6. From 9 to 16 December I will be back in 北京 (Běijīng) for the SportAccord World Mind Games. And then, from 18 to 28 December, I’ll be playing the Women’s World Chess Team Championship in Turkey. I feel like I haven’t time to breath!”, she said. Photo: 张斌 (Zhāng Bīn).