By Mark Ogagan
Chinese grandmaster, Ju Wenjun secured her fifth consecutive Women’s World Chess Championship on Wednesday, defeating compatriot Tan Zhongyi in this year’s final.
Her win in Chongqing, China, means Ju has become just the fourth woman in history – and the first Chinese player ever – to win the world championship five times, joining an exclusive club consisting of Vera Menchik, Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze.
World No. 2 Ju won this year’s final 6.5-2.5, putting together a four-game winning streak to take a firm grip of the trophy after initially falling behind. She then held on to a draw in the deciding game to secure the best-of-12 match.
“In this match, initially the beginning wasn’t very smooth for me, but … I caught up on the score, I was playing more and more in the zone,” Ju said, per Chess.com.
Ju, 34, has held the world title since beating Tan in 2018. She went on to defend her title later that year before winning the following finals in 2020 and 2023 – the world championship is not held every year. She will now extend her reign into an eighth year.
While the result of this year’s final looks emphatic on paper, world No. 3 Tan pushed her opponent throughout but was ultimately not strong enough to overthrow who many now consider to be the queen of chess.
“I think, in this championship match, I exposed some of my weaknesses, and afterward in my training, I will continue to try to fix them if I want to continue in this professional chess player journey,” Tan said after the final, per Chess.com.
This year’s final was the latest high-stakes match between the two Chinese players. Tan initially beat Ju in the quarterfinals on her way to winning the world title in 2017. Ju then beat her opponent in the 2018 final before doing so again on Wednesday.
Ju will take home 300,000 euros ($341,000) for the win, while Tan will get 200,000 euros ($227,000) for finishing second.
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