China's Xu Yuhua is only one step away from being crowned world
chess queen after the fifth-seeded player reached the world
championship final.
Xu had a fierce clash against Russian veteran Svetlana Matveeva
in their second semi-final contest. After 66 moves, Xu has emerged
as the winner to enter the final with one win and one draw in the
previous day's game.
In another semi-final, Russian Alisa Galliamova has beaten
Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania to reach the finals. The Russian
managed to escape from a loss after drawing with Cmilyte in their
first semi-final game.
The final between Xu Yuhua and Alisa Galliamova begins on
Thursday. They will play four games to decide the winner.
(CRI English, March 22, 2006)
