Two draws to start the Women's World Championship

by André Schulz
1/6/2020 – The Women's World Championship between defending champion Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina is being played over 12 games, half in Shanghai and half in Vladivostok. The second game ended today in a draw. FIDE Vice President GM Nigel Short (pictured) made the ceremonial first move before his live commentary duties. | Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Lewis Liu, Michael Friedman

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Tied after two

In the first high-profile event of 2020, World Champion Ju Wenjun meets her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina in a match over 12 games — six in Shanghai and six in Vladivostok (plus a tiebreak if necessary). 

After years of alternating knockouts and matches, the new FIDE leadership has adjusted the format of the Women's World Championship to align more closely with that of the open World Championship. Although, it should be noted that most open World Championships have been in the form of matches (including disputed FIDE World Championships), before the Second World War the Women's title was mostly determined in a tournament format. It was only after the war that the matchplay tradition started. In 1999, the format switched to a knockout, with matches returning to the mix only in 2011.

The contest between Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina is now the first world championship to be once again held in the post-war tradition. The young Russian grandmaster qualified thanks to her victory in the 2019 candidates tournament and, at an Elo of 2578, she represents a serious challenge for the defending champion, as evidenced by the first two games.

Game 1 - A knight makes 45 of White’s 97 moves

In the first game, Goryachkina with the white pieces, the two players fought on Catalan terrain. The players followed Giri vs Jakovenko Shenzhen 2019, through 13.xb6 axb6 but after 14.xc6, Ju was left pondering her next two moves for nearly 30 minutes. 

The middlegame remained dead-even as the pieces dropped off the board until a slight inaccuracy on move 35 gave Goryachkina an opportunity to press for more.

 
Game 1
Position after 35.Ne2

35...e8?! 36.d8 gave White a small initiative and, after a rook trade, Goryachkina tested the Champion in the knight vs bishop ending until the 97th move. The path of White's knight was a bit reminiscent of the classic "knight's tour". 

The scene

The scene of the action in Shanghai

Game 2 - A stable draw

In today's second game, Ju took the white pieces for the first time and uncharacteristically opened with 1.e4, which she has played in only a small fraction of games throughout her career. Goryachkina chose the Berlin defence and Ju responded with the current main line 5.e1: 

 
Ju Wenjun- Aleksandra Goryachkina

The game followed Fedoseev vs Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2019, until the 12th move, when Goryachkina thought for ten minutes on the novelty 12...c6.

 
Game 2
Position after 12...c6

On move 19 the queens were exchanged and a balanced endgame ensued:

 
Position after 20.♖xc1

The game continued until move 40 without much tension, until a draw was sealed by a threefold repetition of moves. 

 
Final position

Tuesday is a rest day in Shanghai, so play resumes Wednesday at 7:30 UTC (8:30 CET, 2:30 AM EST).

Ju vs Goryachkina

Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina


Match standings

Click or tap any result to open the game via Live.ChessBase.com


All games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 dxc4 7.Ne5 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Bxc5 10.0-0 Nc6 E06: Closed Catalan: Early deviations 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Be3 Bb6 13.Bxb6 axb6
14.Nxc6N Predecessor: 14.Nc3 Bd7 15.Rfd1 Ra7 16.Rd6 Rc8 17.Nxc4 Be8 18.Nxb6 ½-½ (31) Ponomariov,R (2648)-Dominguez Perez,L (2762) Budva 2019 14...Bb7 15.Nb4 Nd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.Nc3 Bc6 18.Rfd1 Rfd8 19.f3 Kf8 20.Kf2 Ke7 21.Rxd8 Rxd8=       Endgame KRB-KRN 22.Ke3 e5 23.Rd1 Ra8 24.a3 Ke6 25.Na2 Ba4 26.Rd2 f6 27.Kf2 Bc6 28.e4 g6 29.Ke3 f5 30.exf5+ gxf5 31.f4 h5 32.fxe5 Kxe5 33.Rd4 b5 34.Nc3 Ra7 35.Ne2 Be8 36.Rd8 Re7 37.Nf4 Kf6+ 38.Kd2 Re5 39.Nd5+ Kf7 40.Rd6 Bc6 41.Nf4 Much weaker is 41.Rxc6?! Rxd5+ 42.Ke1 Re5+ 43.Kf1 Re3= 41...Bf3 42.h4 42.Rh6± 42...Bg4 42...Ke7= 43.Ra6 Kd7 43.Rd5 Better is 43.Ra6± 43...Kf6 43...Rxd5+= keeps the balance. 44.Nxd5 Ke6 44.Rxe5 44.Rd7± 44...Kxe5± KB-KN 45.Ke3 Bd1 46.Ng6+ Kf6 47.Nf8 Ke5 48.Nd7+ Ke6 49.Nb8 Kd5 50.Na6 Ke5 51.Nb4 Black should prevent Na2. Bg4 52.Nc2 Bd1?       52...Kd5= and Black stays safe. 53.Nd4+- Ba4 54.Ne2! Bd1 55.Nd4? Only move: 55.Nc3!+- Ba4 56.Kf3 55...Ba4= 56.Nc6+ Kd6 57.Nd8 Ke5 58.Nf7+ Ke6 59.Ng5+ Ke5 60.Nh3 Bd1 61.Nf4 Bg4 62.Ng2 Bd1 63.Ne1 Bg4 64.Nc2 aiming for Nd4. Bd1 65.Nb4 Ba4 66.Na2 Nc3 is the strong threat. Bb3?       66...Bd1!= and Black is okay. 67.Nc3+- Ba4 68.Kf3 Kd4
And now ...Kd3 would win. 69.Ke2! Kc5 70.Ke3? 70.Nxa4++- bxa4 71.Ke3 70...Bc2= 71.Ne2 Bd1! Strongly threatening ...Bxe2. 72.Nd4 Bg4 73.Nc2 Bd1 74.Nb4 Bg4 75.Na2 Bd1 76.Kd2 Bf3 77.Nc3 Bc6 78.Ke3 Bd7
78...Bg2= remains equal. 79.Ne2!± b4 80.axb4+ Kxb4 81.Kd2 81.Nd4± 81...Bc6 The position is equal. 82.Nf4 Bf3 83.Ne6 Bg4 84.Kc2 Bf3 85.Nd4 Bg4 86.Kd2 Kc5 87.Ke3 Kd5 88.Nb5 Kc5 89.Nc3 Kb4 90.Kd4 Kb3 91.Nd5 Be2 92.Ne3 Bd3 93.Kc5 Be2 94.Kd5 Bd3 95.Kd4 Be2 96.Kc5 Bd3 97.Kd4 Accuracy: White = 70%, Black = 62%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2578Ju,W2584½–½2020E06FIDE WWCC 20201.1
Ju,W2584Goryachkina,A2578½–½2020C67FIDE WWCC 20202.1
Goryachkina,A2578Ju,W2584½–½2020D41FIDE WWCC 20203.1
Ju,W2584Goryachkina,A25781–02020D16FIDE WWCC 20204.1
Goryachkina,A2578Ju,W25841–02020A18FIDE WWCC 20205.1
Ju,W2584Goryachkina,A2578½–½2020C67FIDE WWCC 20206.1

Commentary of Round 2

Commentary by GM Nigel Short & WGM Zhang Xiaowen

Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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