Women’s world number-one GM Hou Yifan and WGM Anastasia Avramidou advance to the 2026 Women’s Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals after winning the last Round of 16 matches on Monday. Hou defeated IM Dinara Wagner in a one-sided match, 13.5-2.5, while Avramidou pulled off an upset by a single bullet game against IM Polina Shuvalova.
The first quarterfinal match will be GM Divya Deshmukh vs. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva on July 16.Â
Women’s Speed Chess Championship BracketÂ
Hou 13.5-2.5 Wagner
Hou won the match convincingly, losing just two games in the entire hour and a half. Hou earned $2,765.63 and Wagner $234.38 by win percentage.
5+1: Hou 4-1 Wagner
Hou won four games and lost one in the first segment of the match.
The Chinese grandmaster massaged a heavy-piece endgame to pick up the first win, but Wagner struck back in game two to even the score. Wagner did lose control, hanging a rook in the time scramble, but salvaged the win with mate on the board a few moves later.
Dinara strikes back, winning game two with a mate-in-one to even the score 1-1!https://t.co/CPDAqPX828#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/RC75cJ4GCu
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2026
Still, the women’s number-one won the next three games. First, she won with a direct king assault in the Italian. Then, she found a temporary knight sacrifice to pick up a pawn.
Hou finished the segment with two more knight sacrifices in a single game, thematic ones in the Sicilian Defense, on the d5- and then f5-squares.
3+1: Hou 3.5-1.5 Wagner
Wagner won the first game of the segment, but Hou won another three in a row. The Chinese GM was much better again in the final game, but settled for a draw by threefold repetition.
Game one went to Wagner. Like the first time, it was a nervy time scramble, but she got the job done when she picked up a full knight on c4. We know in hindsight, however, that this would be her last win in the match.
Dinara Wagner wins the first 3+1 game and brings the match to 2-4!https://t.co/6eQwO5JQDS#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/G2P3gSEmVt
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2026
Hou won three games in a row, but in the second, Wagner had her chances. There were a few chances with tactics associated with Bxh7, but when they were missed, Hou consolidated her material advantage.
In her third consecutive win, Hou landed a checkmate with four queens on the board.
Finally, Hou won an exchange in the last game, but settled for a draw by repetition when she lost control later on, even if her position was still better. Better safe than sorry, and she still led the match by five points. It was also the only draw in the match!Â
1+1: Hou 6-0 Wagner
Hou won all six bullet games to clinch a match that was hardly in question.
The second game featured a nice King’s Indian Attack where White’s plan of Kf1-Kg2 did not, as intended, bring the king any kind of safety. Black won a piece and then the game with a direct attack.
The bullet segment went from bad to worse. In the penultimate game, Wagner hung her queen.
Hou won with more than a 10-point margin, sending a strong message to her quarterfinal opponent, GM Anna Muzychuk.
Shuvalova 6.5-7.5 Avramidou
The favorite, Shuvalova, led for the first two segments, but Avramidou turned it all around in the bullet segment. Avramidou earned $2,303.57 and Shuvalova $696.43 by win percentage.
5+1: Shuvalova 3-2 Avramidou
Shuvalova led by a point after the 5+1, but Avramidou won two games to keep it close.
The Greek WGM took the first game of the match, winning an opposite-color bishop endgame with one pair of rooks on the board.
Avramidou takes game one against the favorite, Shuvalova!https://t.co/XqqgwU0dze#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/78wqRTLLxj
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2026
After that, however, Shuvalova won the next three games in a row. In game three, Avramidou found a winning knight sacrifice, but had only four seconds for the rest of the game. Playing on the increment, it’s no surprise she didn’t find the only winning shot 36…Rd3!! and it was Shuvalova who escaped with a full point.
Shuvalova won again after that game, but Avramidou finished the segment by winning with the black pieces, crucially keeping the match close.
3+1: Shuvalova 2.5-2.5 Avramidou
The 3+1 segment was evenly contested, which left the Russian IM with the narrow lead.
The players traded blows, with Shuvalova taking game one and Avramidou taking game two. Avramidou nearly evened the match score in game three, but in the time scramble only managed to get a draw out of her extra pawn. The final missed chance was 70.Kg4!, which would have trapped the black knight.
Nevertheless, Avramidou won the next game to even the score after trapping her opponent’s rook and winning the exchange.
Avramidou evens the score with under three minutes on the match clock!#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/29AyuxtNta
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2026
But Shuvalova had the stronger finish, winning the last game of the segment. After defending against the King’s Indian Attack in the French Defense, Black broke through the center with full force.
Once again, Shuvalova was in the lead by a point, but Avramidou was even the slight favorite in bullet chess according to their ratings.
1+1: Shuvalova 1-3 Avramidou
Surprisingly, the first two bullet games ended in draws—an unusual result in the fastest time control in this tournament. After that, however, Avramidou won the last two games. First evening the score, then winning the match.
First, she won a nervy rook endgame, but then the last game was astounding. After blundering a clean pawn on move 18, a win for Shuvalova was imminent, but much later, 35…Bxf2? lost all control of the position, and Avramidou ended up winning in the time scramble.
That’s it for the Round of 16 matches, and we’re on to the Quarterfinals with just eight players still in contention. Avramidou will play Shuvalova’s countrywoman, GM Kateryna Lagno, in her next match.
The 2026 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, which takes place from July 6-31, is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls.Â
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