World Chess Cup 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk» Results". Archived from the original on 24 September 2011 . Retrieved 5 September 2011. ; accessed 3 December 2011.

Wojciech Bartelski. "6th World Team Chess Championship". Olimpbase.org . Retrieved 3 December 2011. Hou reached the third round (the last 16) of the Women's World Chess Championship in March 2006. [49] Despite being rated 2269 and seeded 56th out of 64 players, [50] she defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (rated 2480) of Russia 1½–½ in the first round, then the former 2000 European champion WGM Natalia Zhukova (2432) of Ukraine 2–0 in the second round. [51] She was beaten 0–2 by IM Nino Khurtsidze (2430) of Georgia in the third round to finish with a performance rating of 2504. [52] [53] Afterwards, Hou played for China in the Women's World Chess Team Championship in Mardin, Turkey. The 5 person team, arranged according to rating, consisted of herself, WGM Ju Wenjun, GM Zhao Xue, WGM Tan Zhongyi and WGM Zhang Xiaowen. China was the clear winner with 16 match points, having lost but one match to Ukraine in the 8th round and winning the rest, ahead of the runner-up Russia by three match points. Georgia grabbed bronze with 12 match points. Hou scored five points from the seven games she played (Wenjun played the first board for Round 1 and Round 2) (+3 = 4, TPR 2648). [129] 2012 [ edit ] Qualifying for the Women's World Chess Championship 2016, in March, as the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14, she reclaimed the World Championship title from Mariya Muzychuk in Lviv, Ukraine with a 6–3 score (+3 =6, TPR 2685). From 1–11 May 2007, at the eighth Russian Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Dagomys, Hou played for Southern Ural Chelyabinsk on board one and scored 6½/10 (+5 =3 −2, TPR 2523). [74] [75] At the 1st World Women's Team Chess Championship in Ekaterinburg later that month, Hou was part of the winning China national team that also included Zhao Xue, Ruan Lufei, Shen Yang, and Huang Qian. Hou Yifan played on board two in every round and scored 7½/9 (+7 =1 −1), winning the gold medal for that board. Her performance rating was 2559. [76] [77] [78]In an interview in Kazan she said that she was going to start studying international relations at Beijing University in September. She said that she was glad China was moving away from its one-child policy, she would have liked to have had a brother or sister, and she knew of women who had been forced to have abortions. [135] Her score this year went above and beyond 2021 and the pre-match predictions, and her powerful start in the first segment paved the way for a commanding and impenetrable lead. 5+1: Hou 5-3 Harika Snowflakes are fallin' on the Aeroflot Open 2007". Chessbase.com. 19 February 2007 . Retrieved 3 December 2011. At the final leg, the tournament's official awards, Big and Small Cups of Grand Prix, designed and manufactured by the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, were presented. As the winner of the 2013–2014 Grand Prix Series, Hou Yifan was solemnly awarded the Small Cup during the official closing ceremony of the tournament.

It wasn’t the only stand she took. In 2017, in Gibraltar, Hou showed up thirty minutes late to her final round and resigned after five moves. Afterward, she explained that she was protesting being paired against women in seven of her ten matches. (Men far outnumbered women at the event.) Tournament officials said the pairings were an unlikely but statistically possible accident. Hou’s resignation sparked an unusually heated debate in the typically staid chess world. When I asked her about the protest, she described it as a thing of the past, and said she’d rather look forward. Zurich Jubilee 2009 Areshchenko and Avrukh victorious". ChessBase. 16 August 2009 . Retrieved 23 May 2011. Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament". Awm2008.tsf.org.tr . Retrieved 3 December 2011. In 2020, at age 26, Hou became the youngest ever professor at Shenzhen University where she is a professor at the School of Physical Education, [21] which includes chess in its Sports Training Program. [22] Results [ edit ] 2003 [ edit ]Michael Adams wins Second Ruy López International in Mérida". Chessbase.com. 13 April 2008 . Retrieved 3 December 2011. Hou participated in the 2007 season of the China Chess League, officially known as the "Torch Real Estate Cup Chinese Chess League Division A". She played for the Shandong Qilu Evening News Chess Team, who became the 2007 champions when they defeated the 2006 champion Beijing team, 3½ to 1½. [90] 2008 [ edit ] Hou Yifan wins yet another Grand Prix, in Jermuk". chessvibes.com. 29 July 2012 . Retrieved 29 June 2014. In April, she finished fifth with a score of 7/11 (+6 =2 −3) (tied for fourth) at the Three Arrows Cup 2005 ladies tournament in Jinan, China. In that tournament, she defeated international master Almira Skripchenko and achieved a performance rating of 2393. [34]

As part of the joint Russian-Chinese Match of Friendship chess festival held from 13 to 15 December held in Shanghai, China, Hou participated in an exhibition match with the GM Evgeniy Najer the 2015 European Champion. Playing a series of rapid and blitz games, she won quite convincingly with a 9.5 to 4.5 score. [161] Hou competed in the Chinese Chess League again in the 2008 season, which had eighteen rounds in six different cities from March to August. Hou's teammates were GM Bu Xiangzhi, GM Zhao Jun, GM Wen Yang, and WGM Zhang Jilin. [90] Wojciech Bartelski (3 November 2007). "2nd Asian Indoor Games: Macau 2007". Olimpbase.org . Retrieved 3 December 2011.Unive Hoogeveen:Nakamura wins with 2855 performance". Chessbase. 28 October 2012 . Retrieved 1 January 2015. In August, she took part in the Chess World Cup 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. She was one of the two female participants in the 128-player single-elimination tournament. Her opponent for the first round was Sergei Movsesian, to whom she lost 2–0, resulting in her elimination. [128] Yifan credits the applied nature of the MPP with giving her the skills to put her knowledge into practice outside of the classroom. “Looking at things from a purely theoretical perspective can make one feel far removed from the practical reality, which is often more complex. The MPP’s focus on real-life challenges and solutions has helped me to make the connection between theory and practical application.” Hou started playing chess regularly at the age of five, [9] but already was fascinated by the game when she was three years old. Hou's father, Hou Xuejian, a magistrate, [10] often took his young daughter to a bookstore after dinner. He noticed that the little girl liked to stare at glass chess pieces behind the window. He later bought his daughter her first chess set. The three-year-old was able to beat her father and grandmother after a few weeks. In 1999, her father engaged a chess mentor, IM Tong Yuanming, for his five-year-old daughter. [11] Tong later said that Hou was an unusual talent, showing "strong confidence, distinguished memory, calculating ability and fast reaction". [11] Hou has said that she took up chess because she was fascinated by the pieces. [12]