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Ju Wenjun retains the Women’s World Championship Title

Chinese Grandmaster Ju Wenjun won The 2023 FIDE Women’s World Championship on Saturday after defeating Lei Tingjie in a 12-game match. The 32-year-old joined her compatriot Hou Yifan as the only player to win the women’s highest prize for a record fourth time.

Ju Wenjun walked away with a cool €300,000, while her opponent got €200,000. The 2023 FIDE Women’s World Championship match was played in China. The first 6 games of the match were played in Ju’s home town of Shangai and the other 6 were in Lei’s hometown of Chongqing

Some Facts about the players who played for the title:

Ju Wenjun

She has been the reigning world champion since May 2018
She was the 5th woman to reach a FIDE rating of 2600
Became China’s Women’s Champion at the age of 19 in 2010
Ju has represented China at 6 straight Olympiads

Lei Tingjie

She was the 2021 Women’s Grand Swiss Champion
Attained the Grandmaster title in March 2017 at 19
Lei attends the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
The 6th woman to obtain a Grandmaster title as a teenager

The 2023 FIDE Women’s championship match came just a few months after the Men’s championship that was won by GM Ding Liren who is also from China. Does this signify a shift of chess dominance from Russia to China? Share your thoughts with us below.

Photo credit/ David Llada/FIDE

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