Ju Wenjun Is the New Women's World Champion

Photo: World Chess

Congratulations to Ju Wenjun, who became the 17th Women's World Champion on Friday, May 18! Ju finished the match a point ahead of her rival and the defending champion, Tan Zhongyi, with 5.5 out of 10 rounds. Ju sealed the title with a hard-fought draw where she had the advantage nearly the entire game.

[pgn][Event "Women's World Championship"]
[Site "Chongqing/Shanghai CHN"]
[Date "2018.05.16"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ju Wenjun"]
[Black "Tan Zhongyi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2571"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2018.05.02"]1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Bc4 e6 5. O-O Ne7 6. a4 Nd7 7. c3 a5 8. Re1 b6
9. Na3 h6 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Nc4 O-O 12. Qe2 e5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. b3 Qb8 15. Ba3
c5 16. Rad1 Rd8 17. Bc1 Bc6 18. Bc2 Qc7 19. Na3 g5 20. h4 g4 21. Nh2 h5 22. f3
gxf3 23. Qxf3 Ng6 24. Bg5 f6 25. Qxh5 Ndf8 26. Be3 Be8 27. Qg4 Bd7 28. Qh5 Be6
29. Nb5 Qe7 30. Ng4 Rxd1 31. Rxd1 Rd8 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Nh6+ Bxh6 34. Bxh6 Bf7
35. Qg4 Be6 36. Qg3 Kh7 37. Be3 Qd7 38. Qf2 Qe7 39. g3 Bg4 40. Qd2 Ne6 41. Kh2
Ng7 42. Nd6 Qd7 43. Nc4 Qf7 44. Nd6 Qg8 45. Qf2 Qd8 46. Qd2 Nh5 47. Nf5 Qg8 48.
Qd5 Qf8 49. Bh6 Qe8 50. Qb7+ Kg8 51. Ng7 Qe7 52. Qxe7 Nxe7 53. Nxh5 Bxh5 54.
Kg2 Kf7 55. Kf2 Nc8 56. Bd2 Nd6 57. b4 Ke7 58. bxa5 bxa5 59. Be3 Nb7 60. Bb3
Kd6 61. Bc4 Nd8 62. Be2 Be8 63. Bd1 Bg6 64. Kf3 Ne6 65. g4 Bf7 66. Bc2 Kc6 67.
Kg3 c4 68. h5 Ng5 69. Bxg5 fxg5 70. Kf3 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Ju Wenjun is currently the 2nd highest ranked woman in the world. This is her first Women's World Championship title. Because the match was held later than expected, Ju will have to defend her title in just 6 months at the knockout championship in November.

For more information on the Women’s World Championship, check out:

"Women's World Champs: Tan Zhongyi Must Win Last Round"
“Women’s World Champs: Halftime Report”
Grandmaster Ian Roger’s Report, “If a Queen Falls and No One Sees It”
The Official Website: http://china2018.fide.com/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vanessa West is a regular writer and digital assistant for US Chess News. She won the 2017 Chess Journalist of the Year award. You can follow her on Twitter: @Vanessa__West