tournament organizer Brian Callaghan said the pairings were simply the result of a computer program. Hou Yifan was one of 24 players selected to play in the FIDE Grand Prix 2017, a qualification stage for the World Chess Championship 2018. She reached position 17 in the final standings, and thus was not able to qualify for the Championship. She declined to defend her title at the Women's World Chess Championship 2017, and as a result forfeited her title. In April she participated at the Grenke Classic at Baden-Baden. She finished 5th out of eight players, beating Fabiano Caruana and drawing against Magnus Carlsen after having come close to winning. In June she re-entered the top 100 players, as world no. 85. In August, she was clear first at the Category 16 50th Biel Chess Festival with 6.5/9 points (+5 −1 =3, TPR 2810). In September she competed in the Chess World Cup 2017, where she went out in a second round tiebreak to Levon Aronian, the eventual winner. 2018 In January she competed in the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee as the only woman in the field of 14 players, placing last with a score of 2.5/13 (+0−8=5). From 31 March to 9 April, she participated in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic. She finished equal 8th–9th out of ten with a score of 3½/9 (+0 –2 =7). 2019 In December, she won the 2019 Belt and Road World Chess Woman Summit with 5/7 points. Rating Rated 2686 in the March 2015 FIDE rating list, Hou was the world no. 59 player and world no. 1 woman player (overtaking the recently retired Judit Polgár's rating for the first time). On 1 July 2006, she was the youngest ever player to enter the Top 50 Women (Number 8) and Top 20 Girls (Number 2) FIDE lists at age of 12 (rated 2488), since FIDE began releasing these lists in 2000. Between the April 2006 and July 2006 FIDE rating lists, she gained an impressive 190 rating points from a rating of 2298 to a rating of 2488, which made her the eighth highest rated female player, and the second highest rated girl, in the world. Four-time winner of the honorary Caissa Cup as the best female player of the year (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014). Chess Award of Caissa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, was