11/11/2020 – “I prefer to play strong chess players, because after the game no matter whether you win or lose you learn something. Like Beth, I read many books by chess world champions, I tend to admire playing styles more than the individual”, writes women’s world champion on a new article published on Newsweek. By Beth, she refers to the main character in “The queen’s gambit”, the hit series on Netflix. | Photos: FIDE

6/17/2020 – Players like Ju Wenjun, Kateryna Lagno, Irina Krush and Anna Muzychuk will take part in the Online Women's Speed Chess Championship which will be held from June 18th to July 20th. The event will be played in four stages: Swiss Tournaments, Play-Off Qualifiers, a Grand Prix and the Super Final. | Photos: Anna Muzychuk (left, photo by Eteri Kublashvili) Ju Wenjun, and Kateryna Lagno (photos by Ugra2018)

6/4/2020 – The new ChessBase Magazine Extra #195 offers a lot of chess highlights, including a review by Ju Wenjun who talks about her narrow victory against Aleksandra Goryachkina in the last Women's World Championship match. Georgios Souleidis shows the power of the "Firouzja-Express" and opening surveys, endgame and middlegame columns and lots of other training materials help you to sharpen your game. A must for every serious chess player.

4/6/2020 – The chess year 2020 began with a highlight, the Women's World Championship match between World Champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina. The match was hard-fought and Ju Wenjun won the tie-break. Here, at her premiere as a ChessBase author, she delivers an insider's report on this exciting match. | Photos: FIDE

3/11/2020 – Four decisive games on Tuesday resulted in a number of changes in the standings table. Nana Dzagnidze defeated Marie Sebag and now shares the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina, as former co-leader Alina Kashlinskaya lost against world champion Ju Wenjun. Mariya Muzychuk joined the chasing pack with a win over Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Antoaneta Stefanova defeated Harika Dronavalli. | Photo: David Llada

3/7/2020 – Despite the fact that most games were hard fought, only Nana Dzagnidze scored a full point in round five — she beat Anna Muzychuk with the black pieces. In the meantime, co-leaders Harika and Goryachkina signed a 31-move draw; Zhansaya Abdumalik versus Alina Kashlinskaya was a sharp fight throughout; and Mariya Muzychuk could not convert the winning advantage she got against world champion Ju Wenjun. | Photo: Official site

3/3/2020 – The third leg of the Women's Grand Prix 2019/20 kicked off with draws on all six boards at the Mövenpick Hotel in Lausanne. World champion Ju Wenjun played Black against Zhao Xue's replacement, Zhansaya Abdumalik, while her latest challenger, Aleksandra Goryachkina, could not take advantage of the slim edge she got against Alina Kashlinskaya. Goryachkina will get a second White in a row on Tuesday. | Photo: Official website

3/1/2020 – With the 2020 Candidates looming, there were few tournaments held in February to attract the world's top grandmasters, with two notable exceptions in Prague and Saint Louis. Alireze Firouzja (pictured) was the winner at the Prague Masters and Humpy Koneru took the second annual Cairns Cup. Gibraltar was also rated in February and provides the only change to the top 10: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave notched up one spot back to number eight, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov slips to the tenth position after withdrawing prematurely due to illness. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

2/17/2020 – Humpy Koneru comfortably held a draw with White against Harika Dronavalli and claimed first place at the Cairns Cup after Ju Wenjun defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk, the only player who had a chance to catch up with the leader. Ju's victory left her on clear second place, while Kosteniuk shared the third-fourth spot with Mariya Muzychuk. Meanwhile, Irina Krush got her first win of the event and Kateryna Lagno miraculously saved a half point for a second day in a row. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/12/2020 – All five games of the Cairns Cup ended decisively on Tuesday, leaving Ju Wenjun and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the shared lead on 3½ out of 5. Humpy Koneru took down former sole leader Nana Dagnidze, Valentina Gunina scored a fine attacking win against Harika Dronavalli and Carissa Yip got on the scoreboard with a victory over compatriot Irina Krush. The players will rest on Wednesday before returning to the fray for the final four rounds. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/11/2020 – Nana Dzagnidze is still leading the second edition of the Cairns Cup after none of the chasers scored wins in round four. Ju Wenjun and Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) did get to join the players trailing a half point behind the Georgian though, after beating Valentina Gunina and Carissa Yip respectively. The rest of the games finished drawn, with Irina Krush missing a good chance to take down Harika Dronavalli. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/1/2020 – Fabiano Caruana did phenomenally at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee and was able to reduce his Elo distance to World Champion Magnus Carlsen from 50 to 20 points — Carlsen now stands at 2862 and Caruana at 2842. Ju Wenjun remained Women's World Champion, and world number two. Firouzja won the Juniors battle in the Tata Steel Masters, and Zhansaya Abdumalik maintains a healthy lead in among the top girls. | Pictured: Caruana watches the game Firouzja vs Dubov | Photo: Alina l'Ami