9/5/2024 – Ju Wenjun was among the 10 players who received invitations to participate in the main event of the Women's Speed Chess Championship. The tournament was a 16-player knockout tournament, also featuring participants who had prevailed in the qualification process. In the final, Ju faced Polina Shuvalova and obtained a clear 12½-9½ victory, as she outscored her opponent in all 3 sections of the match. | Photo: Gu Xiaobing
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The world champ prevails in all 3 sections
The main event of the Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship took place online from 22 August to 5 September. It was a knockout tournament featuring 16 players (10 invited and 6 qualifiers). Women's world champion Ju Wenjun and Russian IM Polina Shuvalova reached Thursday's final, a 150-minute match including sections of 5-minute games, 3-minute games and 1-minute games (all with 1-second increments).
Ju prevailed in all 3 sections, outscoring her opponent by 1 point in each of the segments - the final score was 12½-9½ in favour of the Chinese grandmaster. Ju was thus crowned champion of the online event.
The continuous stream of new ideas in the Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I do give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.
On her way to the final, Ju obtained clear victories over Anna Sargsyan (13-3), Alice Lee (9½-5½) and Kateryna Lagno (14½-7½). Notably, the 33-year-old did not lose a single section throughout the 4 matches. Her worst result in a single section was a 2½-2½ draw with Lee in the bullet section of their quarterfinal encounter.
Ju has been the women's world champion in classical chess since 2018, when she defeated Tan Zhongyi in a 10-game match played in China. She has defended her title 3 times since, first in a 64-player knockout and then in 12-game matches against Aleksandra Goryachkina and Lei Tingjie. Ju will attempt to keep the crown in another match next year - Tan Zhongyi will be the challenger, as she prevailed in the Women's Candidates earlier this year.
Ranked second in the world in the classical ranking (behind long-time leader Hou Yifan), Ju is the fourth highest-rated blitz player in the world - her compatriots Hou, Lei and Tan are the top 3 in the world in this format. Notably, none of the 4 Chinese stars will participate in the upcoming Women's Chess Olympiad.
Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Champion Chess.com04.09.2024[CC]
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3d54.cxd5Nxd55.e4Nxc36.bxc3c57.Nf3cxd48.cxd4Bb4+9.Bd2Bxd2+10.Qxd20-011.Bc4A very popular line has been explored up to this point. It is Shuvalova who deviates from
the absolute primary variation with ...b7-b6 next.b6More fashionable is11...Nd712.0-0b612.d5Ba613.Bxa6Nxa614.d6Nc515.e5
This
looks bad for Black, with the two central white pawns so far advanced -
however, Wang Hao defeated Mustafa Yilmaz from the black side of this position
in 2022.15...f6Immediately challenging the pawns. This move has been played in
the past - most notably, by Henrique Mecking against Viktor Korchnoi in the
1971/72 Hastings Tournament (the game was a draw).Engines favour15...Rc8Or15...Nd7Yilmaz v. Wang continued15...Qd716.0-0f617.Rfe1Rad818.Rad1Qa419.Qb2Rd720.h316.exf6makes more sense, and e.g.:16.0-0Qd717.Rfe1Rad8etc.16...Qxf617.0-0Rad818.Rad1Rd719.Rfe1Rfd8Very natural, though inaccurate.Engines show19...Nb720.Ng5Nc5Not20...Rxd6due to21.Ne4Rxd222.Nxf6+gxf623.Rxd221.h3Rfd820.Ne5
This is why Black's previous move was a mistake. The ensuing
forced line, in which White gives up the queen for two rooks, leaves White
with a better (though not winning) position.20...Rxd621.Qxd6Rxd622.Rxd6h6
White's pieces are greatly coordinated, but making progress is still difficult.
However, Black has a tough time looking for a plan in this position - a
particularly important factor in a blitz game.23.h3Kh724.Rd4Qf525.Re2b526.g4
Weakening the kingside against a queen might be scary, but
given White's great coordination, it is fully justified.26...Qb1+An inaccuracy
which gives White a chance to take the initiative.Better is the more
cautious26...Qf6and e.g.27.Kg2Na428.Ree4and the tense battle
continues.27.Kg2a528.h4g529.hxg5hxg530.Nf3Kg6A mistake by
Shuvalova. Figuring out the details is not at all trivial - Shuvalova had a
bit over 1 minute on her clock at this point.Stronger is30...Kh6
and if White plays (as in the game)31.Re5Black can defend withQc2
since after32.Rxg5there isNe4attacking the f2-square, and e.g.33.Rh5+Kg7etcetera.31.Re5Nd3The losing mistake.As in the
aforementioned variation, better is31...Qc2though in this case White
captures with check:32.Rxg5+Kh733.Rd2and White is winning.32.Rxe6+
32...Kf7Now White has mate-in-5.32...Kg7does not lead to forced mate,
but Black is still doomed.33.Nxg5+Kf834.Rd8+Kg735.Rd7+Kf836.Rf7+Kg837.Re8#Checkmate!1–0
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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