Ruan Lufei facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ruan Lufei |
|
|---|---|
| Country |  China |
| Born | October 2, 1987 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China |
| Title | Woman Grandmaster (2008) |
| FIDE rating | 2491 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2503 (January 2014) |
Ruan Lufei (Chinese: 阮露斐; born October 2, 1987) is a talented Chinese chess player. She holds the special title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). In 2010, she was the runner-up in the Women's World Chess Championship.
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Ruan Lufei's Chess Journey
Ruan Lufei showed great natural talent for chess. With hard work and help from her coach, Xu Jun, she became one of the top 20 female chess players in the world by January 2008. Before that, she was often on the FIDE Top 20 Girls List from 2004 to 2007. She even reached 6th place on that list in October 2007.
Team Successes
Ruan was part of the Chinese women's team that won the First World Women's Team Chess Championship in 2007. This big event took place in Yekaterinburg. She also won a silver medal for her great play on the third board, scoring 6 out of 7 games.
In 2008, Ruan was again part of the Chinese Women's team. They won the gold medal at the 2008 World Mind Sports Games in Beijing. This was the second time she helped her team win a world championship!
Individual Achievements
In 2007, Ruan Lufei won second prize at the 12th Asian Women's Chess Championship.
She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship 2008. She played well but was knocked out in the third round by Pia Cramling from Sweden.
2010 Women's World Championship
Ruan Lufei had an amazing run in the Women's World Chess Championship, 2010. She made it all the way to the final match! To get there, she had to win many tie-break games in each round. She even beat the previous champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk.
In the final, she played against another Chinese player, Hou Yifan. Many people thought Hou Yifan would win easily. Ruan had played many long, tiring matches. Hou, however, had an easier path to the final.
The Exciting Final Match
The final match had four main games. Ruan drew the first game while playing with the black pieces. But she lost the second game, which she played with the white pieces. It looked like the match might be over soon.
However, Hou Yifan could not win the third game. This gave Ruan a chance in the fourth and final game. Ruan needed to win this game to stay in the match. She used a special chess opening called the Keres attack. In a very exciting game, Ruan won! This sent the match into more tie-break games.
Tie-Break Drama
Ruan had won all her previous tie-breaks in the tournament. So, some experts thought she might win again. The first tie-break game was a draw. But Hou won the second game. Ruan drew the third game, meaning the rapid tie-breaks would go to the very end.
Ruan was in a must-win situation again. This time, she had the black pieces. Her opponent, Hou Yifan, was younger and more rested. Hou used the advantage of playing with the white pieces to win the match and the championship title.
Even though Ruan did not win the title, her performance was incredible. It showed everyone what a strong player she is. Her great play also earned her a Grandmaster (GM) norm. This is a special achievement for chess players.
Retirement from Chess
In 2012, Ruan Lufei reached a chess rating of over 2500. This is a very rare achievement for female chess players. Before this tournament, Ruan had decided to stop playing chess professionally. She wanted to focus on her studies and academic career.
She also played for the Jiangsu chess club in the China Chess League (CCL).
Woman Grandmaster Title
Ruan Lufei earned the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title in 2007. To get this title, players need to achieve certain "norms" in tournaments. Ruan got her norms at these events:
- The 2004 China Women's Team Championship in Jinan, China. She scored 6.5 out of 9 points.
- The China Zonal 3.5 Women's Championship in Beijing in 2005. She scored 5.0 out of 9 points.
- The 8th Russian Women's Team Championship in Sochi, Russia in 2007. She scored 7.5 out of 10 points.
Ruan Lufei's Life Outside Chess
Ruan Lufei started studying at Tsinghua University in 2005. She is now working on her advanced degree in Accounting. She studies at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.
Ruan Lufei's father, Ruan Miqing, is a professor at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He taught her how to play chess when she was a child.
See also
In Spanish: Ruan Lufei para niños
- Chess in China
