‘Queen of Chess’ abandons Gibraltar match to protest pairing

MADRID — The world’s top female chess player has given up her last game to protest being paired against mostly female players at a major tournament where male contestants outnumbered them.

The dramatic loss of Chinese grandmaster and world champion Hou Yifan came only five moves into the final round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival against opponent Babu Lalith of India.

Hou later apologized to fans in a video on the event’s website, but said she was upset by the “unbelievable and weird pairings” after playing against seven women in ten rounds.

“I think it’s unfair, not only for me, but for the other women players,” the 22 year-old player often referred as the “Queen of Chess” said.