Hou Yifan defeated Lei Tingjie 11.5:9.5 in the Chinese semifinal derby and advanced to the final of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship in which she will face Harika Dronavalli.

The top-rated female player convincingly won the first 5+1 segment, but Lei Tingjie fought back in the 3+1 portion of the match to narrow the gap to just one point.

The final 1+1 portion was a close affair, but Hou Yifan eventually got the better of her opponent to punch her ticket into the final.

“It was a tough match for both of the players,” commented Hou Yifan. “I got some advantage after 5+1 but Tingjie had a comeback in 3+1 – at some moment, I lost 3 or 4 games in a row … The turning point was me winning a game pawn down, a few games before the final one.”

The final is scheduled for Saturday, June 3.

The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000.

Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events).

More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.