Women's WCh 2016, 6: Hou Yifan closes on title

Hou Yifan has taken a giant step towards regaining her World Championship title by winning the sixth game in Lviv with Black, giving her a two-point lead with only four games to go. The roller-coaster encounter saw Mariya Muzychuk achieve a promising position out of the opening, but when she failed to exploit it Hou Yifan was ruthless in seizing her chance to turn the tables. We have video analysis of the crucial game by Jan Gustafsson.

Hou Yifan is close to regaining the World Championship crown once again | photo: official website

Mariya Muzychuk once more came well-prepared for her Game 6 encounter with the women's no. 1, but then it all went wrong. Jan Gustafsson takes us through the game:

So for the second time in Lviv, Mariya Muzychuk had to attend a press conference after a loss:

With four games to go the match score is suddenly beginning to look more like Hou Yifan's previous match encounters:

It's hard not to feel the match is almost over, or can Mariya still surprise us all and mount a comeback in the remaining four games? Stranger things have happened!

Hou Yifan couldn't win with the white pieces for two games in a row, but that proved no issue! | photo: official website

Game 7 of the match will be here on chess24 from 14:30 CET on Friday 11 March, with the match situation meaning Mariya may feel she has to play for a win with either colour. You can watch that game and replay the earlier games using the selector below:

You can also watch the games in our free mobile apps: