Adaa: Analysis of Three Top Grandmasters

Adaa analyzes the chess styles of three world Grandmasters: Yifan Hou, Judit Polgar, and Koneru Humpy.

Her News columnist Adaa Rahul

GM Yifan Hou - chess.com

GM Yifan Hou

GM Yifan Hou, a women's world chess champion, has a distinctive style of playing. She is reportedly a positional player, a term denoting someone who prioritizes construction of defenses, playing for long-term advantages rather than optimizing entirely for attacks. She often utilizes the Ruy López in tournaments. She is perhaps best known for her use of the Ruy López in a match with grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, who lost the game when this particular opening, which happened to be his favorite,  was used against him. She is also reported to have commonly used the Catalan opening, a maneuver with a mix of dynamic and tactical unlike most of the other openings in her repertoire.

Fun Fact: Her Move Next players participated in a simul with GM Yifan Hou in August of 2019! Read the Her News simul article, watch the videos, or learn more about this special simul event from US Chess.

GM Judit Polgar - chess.com

GM Judit Polgar

GM Judit Polgar, a renowned women’s chess champion, has a unique playstyle, aggressive and innovative. She is well known for playing strong, dynamic openings such as the Sicilian Defense and the King’s Indian. These tactics, although sound, can lead to complications later in the game, and require mastery to pull off. Polgar however, has never feared to use a sharp or combative opening, and her courageous and unusual choices during a match have often taken the win. However, she is capable of playing slower, more strategic games, as was seen in her famous match against Garry Kasparov, in which she employed the Ruy López and used it to great effect, blocking her opponent’s means of developing his pieces while gaining positional advantages.

GM Koneru Humpy - chess.com

GM Koneru Humpy

GM Koneru Humpy, one of India’s most prolific female chess players, is well-known for her extremely effective endgame positions. In white positions, she has often played the Queen’s Gambit Declined (and many of its variations), which, being an opening highly focused on control of the center, is consistent with her positional playing style. She has also been known to favor Petrov's Defense when playing black positions, a choice that further illustrates her style of gameplay, given its advantages in positional stability and the development of pieces. Humpy’s playstyle is not, however, quiet and measured. Comfortable in tactical roles as well, Humpy is able to make bold sacrifices in order to better her situation in a game.