Women's World Chess Championship 2023

The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, the winner of the 2022–23 Candidates tournament.

Women's World Chess Championship 2023
Shanghai & Chongqing, China
5–24 July 2023
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
  China Ju Wenjun China Lei Tingjie
 
Scores
Game 1½50 move draw½
Game 2½40 move draw½
Game 3½49 move draw½
Game 4½63 move draw½
Game 5065 moves 1
Game 6½48 move draw½
Game 7½65 move draw½
Game 81 72 moves0
Game 9½59 move draw½
Game 10½47 move draw½
Game 11½48 move draw½
Game 121 62 moves0
  Born 31 January 1991
32 years old
Born 13 March 1997
26 years old
  Winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2020 Winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2022–23
  Rating: 2564
(World No. 2)
Rating: 2554
(World No. 4)
← 2020
2025 →

It was played in two Chinese cities from 5 to 24 July 2023, giving each participant a home-field advantage.

Ju won the match and successfully defended her title.

Candidates tournament

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The second edition of the women's Candidates was played in the last quarter of 2022.[1][2][3] In contrast to the previous edition, this was played in a knock-out format. It has been speculated that the pairings were made to prevent a Russia vs Ukraine matchup before the final.[4]

Quarterfinals (best of 4) Semifinals (best of 4) Final (best of 6)
         
  Koneru Humpy
  Anna Muzychuk
  Anna Muzychuk
Pool A (Monaco)
  Lei Tingjie
  Lei Tingjie
  Mariya Muzychuk
  Lei Tingjie
  Tan Zhongyi
  Aleksandra Goryachkina
  Alexandra Kosteniuk
  Aleksandra Goryachkina
Pool B (Khiva)
  Tan Zhongyi
  Kateryna Lagno
  Tan Zhongyi

It featured eight players, including three former Women's World champions. In the final, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi played a six-game match to determine the Challenger spot. Lei Tingjie won the match in 5 games.[5]

Match

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The match was scheduled for 5 to 25 July 2023.[6] As in 2018, it was played in two halves, giving each player a home advantage. The host cities were Chongqing and Shanghai.[7] Shanghai hosted the first half and Chongqing the second.

The format of the championship was a 12-game match as in previous years.

English-language commentators on Chess.com included Jovanka Houska, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daniel Naroditsky and Judit Polgar. FIDE commentators were Alik Gershon and Xu Yi.

Seconds

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Ju's seconds were Pentala Harikrishna and Wei Yi, while Lei's seconds were Teimour Radjabov and Raymond Song.[8]

Schedule

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  • 4 July: Opening Ceremony (Shanghai)
  • 5 and 6 July: Games 1 and 2
  • 8 and 9 July: Games 3 and 4
  • 11 and 12 July: Games 5 and 6
  • 13 July: Transfer to Chongqing
  • 15 and 16 July: Games 7 and 8
  • 18 and 19 July: Games 9 and 10
  • 21 and 22 July: Games 11 and 12
  • 23 July: Tiebreaks (if needed)
  • 24 July: Closing Ceremony

Games start at 3 p.m. local time (07:00 UTC).

Results

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At the opening ceremony, Lei Tingjie received the white pieces for the first game of the match, with colors alternating after every game.[9]

As of 2023, both the Open World Chess Champion (Ding Liren) and Women World Chess Champion are from China.

Women's World Chess Championship 2023
Player Rating Standard Time Control Points
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  Ju Wenjun (China) 2564 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1
  Lei Tingjie (China) 2554 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0
Game Links [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

References

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  1. ^ "FIDE Council meeting: List of decisions". Archived from the original on 2022-03-24. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  2. ^ "Qualification for FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2022 announced". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  3. ^ "FIDE Women's World Championship. Cycle 2020-2022". Archived from the original on 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  4. ^ West (NM_Vanessa), Vanessa (July 2022). "FIDE Announces New Knockout Format for Women's Candidates". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  5. ^ "Lei Tingjie wins the Women's Candidates Final". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  6. ^ "China to host Women's Candidates Final and Women's World Championship Match". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  7. ^ "Calendar". Fide. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  8. ^ "Lei Poses Questions, Ju Finds Answers In Women's World Championship Game 2". July 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "FIDE Women's World Championship Match 2023 commences in Shanghai".
  10. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 1". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  11. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 2". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  12. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 3". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  13. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 4". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  14. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 5". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  15. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 6". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  16. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 7". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  17. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 8". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  18. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 9". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  19. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 10". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  20. ^ "Tingjie Lei vs Wenjun Ju, Rd 11". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  21. ^ "Wenjun Ju vs Tingjie Lei, Rd 12". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
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