The Circle Opens

The rapid and blitz World Chess Champions Showdown between four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and former FIDE World Chess Champion Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov will take place at the 南山博物馆 (Nánshān Museum) in 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), 广东省 (Guǎngdōng province), China from 3–8 July 2018. The match will consist of 8 rapid games at 15 minutes per player plus 10 seconds time per move in two days (July 4–5), a free day (July 6), 10 blitz games at 3 minutes per player plus 2 seconds per move and eventual Armageddon tie-break in one day (July 7). The winner will receive a cash prize of $20,000, while the loser will be paid $10,000. The schedule is as follows:

• Tuesday, July 3
  Technical meeting (20,00)
• Wednesday, July 4
  Opening ceremony (14,00)
  Rapid game 1 (14,30)
  Rapid game 2 (15,30)
  Rapid game 3 (16,30)
  Rapid game 4 (17,30)
• Thursday, July 5
  Rapid game 5 (14,00)
  Rapid game 6 (15,00)
  Rapid game 7 (16,00)
  Rapid game 8 (17,00)
• Friday, July 6
  Free day
• Saturday, July 7
  Blitz game 1 (9,00)
  Blitz game 2 (9,15)
  Blitz game 3 (9,30)
  Blitz game 4 (9,45)
  Blitz game 5 (10,00)
  Blitz game 6 (10,15)
  Blitz game 7 (10,30)
  Blitz game 8 (10,45)
  Blitz game 9 (11,00)
  Blitz game 10 (11,15)
  Armageddon tie-break (11,30)
  Closing ceremony (11,50)
• Sunday, July 8
  Joint simultaneous exhibition (9,30)
  Departure (18,00)

In the meantime, on the afternoon of June 26, 2018 four-time Women’s World Chess Champion as well as Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) held an interactive meeting with the students of the 深圳市百合外国语学校 (Shēnzhèn Bǎihé Foreign Language School), 龙岗区 (Lónggǎng District), 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), China discussing her learning experiences and giving them her advice on how to manage time between study and other interests. Where to begin? Well, at least one advice seems to be worldwidely applicable: just avoid spending too much time on the social networks! Photos: sznews.com.