Hou Yifan is the winner of the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship.

In a roller-coaster final match with tension running high to the very end,  she defeated Harika Dronavalli 15-13. Both opponents showed a great fighting spirit.

The winner picked up the $20,000 first prize, whereas the runner-up took home $12,000 for her efforts.

The Indian star was off to a flying start grabbing the lead in the 5+1 section, but the world's #1 stormed back in the 3+1 segment levelling the score after a series of wins. It was back and forth in the bullet portion before Hou Yifan claimed the championship by winning the last two games. Internet connectivity problems on Harika's side also affected the 1+1 part of the match.

"In-between bullet, my Internet connection troubled me today. It never happened to me before, so I was a little disturbed. At the same time, I can't give such reasons; my opponent played much stronger. I tried to fight until the end," said Dronavalli.

Hou Yifan also noted her opponent's strength and unfortunate connectivity issues: "Harika had a very good performance, especially in a segment of 5+1. At some point, I was behind 2 or 3 points. I think the turning point was when Harika got some Internet connection problems. It is not only a technical issue but also bad psychologically. I had a similar experience before, and it can be annoying, to be honest."

"In the bullet segment, my opponent played very well, very fast… At any point, it could have gone either way. I was just lucky at some moments to win this match," the champion added.

The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women's Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event run from June 10 to July 3. Players battled for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000.

Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com's Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com's Events page (https://www.chess.com/events).

More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women's Speed Chess Championship can be found here.