China's Xu Yuhua took the first step towards winning her first world crown after taking the lead againt Russian favorite Alisa Galliamova at the 2006 Women's Chess World Championships yesterday in Russia.

Xu played Black in her favorite French defense to defeat Galliamova after 65 moves to lead 1-0 at the four-game finals.

Galliamova played White to start the match. She made some active moves in Queen ending which led to the weakening of pawns' position on King's side.

Xu took the benefit from it. The position of White was getting worse with every passing move and soon the destiny of the game was at risk. Black advantaged with one pawn up. The Russian player admitted defeat.

At the press conference Xu Yuhua said that her opening wasn't that successful for she failed to find the best variant during her home preparation. In the middle game the situation improved. She took benefit of her opponents' fouls, got an advantage and finally won.

(CRI English March 24, 2006)