The 2023 FIDE Women's World Championship kicked off on July 5 at the Shanghai Chess and Card Academy. Two Chinese players, Ju Wenjun from Shanghai and Lei Tingjie from Chongqing, will play a 12-game slow chess showdown for the new queen. It is also the second time that the SUFE derby has been staged after the battle of Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi in 2018. The current chess queen Ju Wenjun studied at the School of Public Economics and Administration in 2011, and the challenger Lei Tingjie, an alumna from College of Business in 2018, will join forces to create financial glory.
On January 13, 2020, FIDE President Dvorkovic made a special trip to SUFE. He expressed his great concern to SUFE Chess.
The schedule of this world championship match is divided into three days and two sets. The Chinese Chess Association will broadcast on the official account at 15:00 on the match day.
Introduction to chess players
Ju Wenjun, a Shanghai chess player, began learning chess at the age of 7. She quickly stood out in chess.
In 2004, at the age of 13, Ju Wenjun won a bronze medal at the Asian Women's Chess Championship and qualified for her first women's world championship. She was one of the lower-ranked contestants in the World Championships, but managed to reach the third round.
Ju Wenjun won the Chinese Women's Individual Chess Championship twice in 2010 and 2014. At that time, Ju Wenjun began to firmly establish herself as the world's top female chess player. In 2015, she finished in the top five in the world women's ranking and was one of the most popular female chess players at the 2015–16 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. It is said that Ju Wenjun is at the top of the list, winning two of the five races and qualifying for the world championships. One of her opponents at the World Championships was her compatriot Tan Zhongyi, who eventually won the knockout stage of the 2017 World Championship.
Ju Wenjun continued her rapid ascent in the days that followed. In March 2017, she reached 2604 points, becoming the fifth female chess player to exceed the 2600 threshold. A year later, in her seventh women's world championship, Ju Wenjun defeated her compatriot Tan Zhongyi by a score of 5.5-4.5, Chengli Women's National Chess World Champion. The race was divided into two parts, the first half in Shanghai and the second half in Chongqing.
Ju Wenjun has twice defended her women's world title. She was the top seed in the 2018 World Championship 64-man knockout round, winning all the games in slow chess to reach the final. In the final, she defeated Kateryna Lagno in her final slow chess match. In the 2020 match against Gorjachikina, the slow chess match ended in a tie of 6-6, and Ju Wenjun won the championship by winning the third fast chess match.
The 2023 FIDE Women's World Championship Rivalry, just as she gave her a precious title in her first championship match, Ju Wenjun is about to face her compatriot as an opponent. The tournament will be held in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing, respectively. In 2018, the first five rounds of the tournament were divided into winners and losers, and fans of chess fans were very impressed by this competition, and they expect this tournament to be equally exciting. This time, however, it was Juwenjun's turn to defend her title status, and her opponent was ambitious to claim the title. In this young and experienced match, the 32-year-old champion will rely on her skills and experience to hold the title.
Lei Tingjie was born in Chongqing in 1997. Chongqing is also the birthplace of Tan Zhongyi, the 16th women's world champion, and Zhang Zhong, China's ninth grand master.
In 2017, 19-year-old Lei Tingjie won the national title ahead of then-women's world champion Tan Zhongyi. In the same year, she received the title of Grand master, becoming the sixth female chess player to achieve that title in her youth. At the same time, Lei Tingjie's rating rose to 2522 points, entering the top 10 of the world women's ranking for the first time, but later fell back in the rankings.
After the pandemic, Lei Tingjie regained momentum and won the prestigious 2021 Swiss Women's Championship. This success qualified her for the 2022/23 Candidates Tournament and restored her ranking to the top 10. In April 2023, she won the Candidates Tournament, defeating Tan Zhongyi 3.5-1.5 in the final.
Lei Tingjie is following in the footsteps of her great compatriot predecessors Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi and her current rival Ju Wenjun. If she wins, Lei Tingjie will become the 18th women's chess world champion and the 7th Chinese to win the women's title.
