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• Anatoly Samokhvalov, Эксперт: Горячкина способна потягаться с Хоу Ифань | Expert opinion: Goryachkina is able to compete with 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), RIA Novosti, May 18, 2020

Expert opinion: Goryachkina is able to compete with 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) Moscow, May 18, 2020 — RIA Novosti correspondent: Anatoly Samokhvalov. Russian chess Grandmaster Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina is actually able to compete with four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) from China, provided the latter keeps playing, former coach of the Russian women’s and men’s teams Yury Rafaelovich Dokhoian told RIA Novosti. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) just won the Online Nations Cup as a member of China’s team, coming back on the scene after a study break. “If 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and India’s Humpy Koneru get back on stage, Sasha Goryachkina may also compete with them. She is young, ambitious, and on her way to the top. Right now I’m inclined to think that Goryachkina might be even stronger than China’s 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)”, Dokhoian said by phone. “I generally think that 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s comeback may be due to the fact that her compatriot 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is not indisputably better than the others. Furthermore, she is not on the same level as one player, such as, for instance, in the case of Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov and Garry Kimovich Kasparov, and at least three or four players, including Goryachkina, are equal to 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)”, he observed. “In order for China to save the throne of women’s chess, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s comeback is a logical move”, he argued. “Thus, the adversaries will have to take other bastions”.

(Free translation by Nobody’s Perfect)