Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun has scored a convincing 6.5-2.5 victory over her challenger Tan Zhongyi in the Women’s World Championship match, held in China earlier this month. Tan took an early lead by grinding out a minuscule advantage in the second game, but Ju levelled the scores with an equally patient win in the next. She then took the lead in the fifth game, and never looked back. That was the first of four consecutive wins for Ju, where she repeatedly outclassed the challenger in her handling of technical positions.
Her margin of victory was surprising, since the two should have been very closely matched, according to their international ratings. With the exception of Hou Yifan, who all but retired from competitive play several years ago, Ju is the highest-rated woman, but she is only just ahead of her compatriots Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie. Still, she seems to produce something special when the world championship is at stake. This match marks her fifth victory since winning the title in 2018 with a narrow victory over Tan Zhongyi herself. Later that year, she defended her title by winning a knockout tournament, and then saw off challenges in matchplay against Aleksandra Goryachkina (2020) and Lei Tingjie (2023).
A valuable piece of chess wisdom states that ‘pawns do not move backwards’. That is to say, be wary of barrelling forward with pawns, because they lose the chance to ever defend the squares they have left behind. But experts also know when to break the rules. In the diagram position, Ju seizes the initiative with three strong pawn pushes, two directly in front of her king, correctly judging that she has nothing to fear once Tan’s knight is driven back to a passive position.
Tan Zhongyi-Ju Wenjun
Fide Women’s World Championship, Shanghai, April 2025
1 c4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 b3 d5 4 Bb2 c5 5 cxd5 exd5 6 g3 Nc6 7 Bg2 d4 8 O-O Be7 9 Na3 O-O 10 e3 dxe3 11 dxe3 Bf5 12 Ne5 Nxe5 13 Bxe5 Qc8 14 Qe2 Bh3 15 Qf3 Bxg2 16 Kxg2 Qe6 17 Bb2 Ne4 18 Rfd1 Rad8 19 Nc4 (see diagram) 19…b5! 20 Ne5 f5! 21 Nd3 g5! With f4 denied to the knight, it must retreat yet again. 22 Ne1 Bf6 It’s reassuring to exchange these bishops after exposing the kingside. Nevertheless 22…c4 was even stronger, e.g. 23 bxc4 bxc4 24 Bd4 g4 25 Qe2 Ng5! with ideas of …Qc6+ or even …f4. 23 Bxf6 Qxf6 24 Rxd8 Rxd8 25 Rd1 Rxd1 26 Qxd1 Qd6 27 Qh5 The queen exchange would favour Ju, since her pawn majority is more mobile and her king has an easy path to the centre in the endgame. Kg7 28 Qe8 a6 29 Nf3 Nf6 30 Qa8 h6 31 h4 A big mistake, though White already had problems. For example, 31 Qb7+ Qd7 32 Qxa6 Qd5! wins the knight on f3, as g5-g4 cannot be prevented. g4 32 Qb7+ 32 Ne1 Qd5+ is little better. Qd7 33 Qxd7+ Nxd7 34 Nd2 Kf6 Ju’s superior king and mobile pawns make for a huge advantage, e.g. 35 Kf1 Ke5 36 Ke2 Kd5 followed by Nd7-f6-e4 should lead to a win. 35 f4 Ke6 36 e4 fxe4 37 Nxe4 Kd5 38 Nf2 Nf6 39 Kf1 Kd4 40 Ke2 h5 41 a4 No better is 41 Kd2 c4 42 bxc4 bxc4 43 Kc2 Ke3 and g3 soon falls. Kc3 42 axb5 axb5 43 Nd3 Ne4 44 Ke3 Nxg3 45 Nxc5 Nf5+ 46 Ke4 Nxh4 47 Ke5 Kb4 48 Ne4 Kxb3 49 Kf6 Nf3 50 f5 h4 51 Ke7 g3 52 f6 g2 White resigns in view of 53 f7 Ne5! 54 f8=Q Ng6+
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