Women’s World Championship: The calm before the storm?

by André Schulz
7/20/2023 – The tenth game of the Women’s World Championshipe ended in a draw. Ju Wenjun followed in Vincent Keymer’s footsteps in the opening, but failed to gain an advantage. The last two classical games will be played on Friday and Saturday, following a rest day. | Photos: Stev Bonhage / FIDE
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Two games to go (and a potential playoff)

The 2023 Women’s World Chess Championship between China’s Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie is nearing its end. The match is scheduled for twelve games. In the event of a tie, there will be a playoff. Ju Wenjun has already gained experience in a similar situation, as she won the last match for the title in 2020 against Aleksandra Goryachkina in a playoff.

The tenth game was officially opened by guests of honour He Yilong and Fu Xianfen, who played the first moves for White and Black. He Yilong is Chairman of the Changshou District Political Consultative Conference — which is an advisory body to the political parties in China. In fact, there are eight other authorised political parties in China besides the Communist Party. Fu Xianfen has excelled in epidemic prevention and control in the Hubei province.

In the tenth game of the match, defending champion Ju Wenjun switched to 1.Nf3. After Lei Tingie replied by 1...Nf6, not the most unusual answer, Ju Wenjun had a prolonged reflection.

The move 1...Nf6 cannot have been a surprise, but only after four minutes did Ju Wenjun continue with 2.c4. This was followed by 2...e6, and after 3.d4 Lei Tingjie could have played 3...d5, with a transition into a Queen’s Gambit Declined. She has already used that a few times in this competition and can be satisfied with the results.

Ju Wenjun, however, played 3.e3 and replied to 3...d5 by 4.b3. She was aiming for the Zukertort system, in which the move d2-d4 is initially held back in order to place the d-pawn either on d4 or on d3, depending on the situation. Vincent Keymer often opens with such a setup and has some success with it. Even without a fianchetto of the light-squared bishops, this opening is probably counted as part of the Reti system.

Ju Wenjun tried to squeeze some advantage out of her position, but to no avail. The defending champion gained a pawn, but she soon had to give it back in the major piece ending. Eventually, a completely balanced rook endgame was reacher.

Ju Wenjun2564½–½Lei Tingjie2554
WWCCM 2023
Chongqing19.07.2023
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.e3 d5 4.b3 c5 5.Bb2 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Be2
7...a6 Black foregoes the advance d5-d4. 7...d4 8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bb5 Bc5 10.Qe2+ Be6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.Qe5 Qd5 13.Bxd4 Qxe5+ 14.Bxe5 Nd5 15.0-0 1-0 (55) Keymer,V (2700)-Grischuk,A (2745) Astana 2023 8.d4 8.0-0 d4 9.exd4 cxd4 10.Re1 Be7 11.Na3 b5? 12.Rc1 Bb7 13.Nxb5 axb5 14.Bxb5 Rxa2 15.Bxd4+- 1/2-1/2 (95) Keymer,V (2700)-Aronian,L (2745) Astana 2023 8...cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bb4+ 10.Bc3 Bd6 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Re8 An example from the old days: 12...Bc7 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Qc2 Re8 15.Bd4 Qd6 16.g3 Bg4 17.Bxg4 Nxg4 18.Nf3± 1-0 (43) Petrosian,T-Beliavsky,A Moscow 1973 13.Bb2 Bd7=
14.N2f3 The first new move. 14.Rc1 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Ba3 16.Ra1 Rc8 17.Bd3 Qe7 18.Qf3 Rc6 19.Bf5 Ne4 20.Bxd7 Qxd7 21.Rad1 Rg6= 1-0 (34) Nisipeanu,L (2674)-Parligras,M (2645) Bucharest 2018 14...Ne4 15.Nd2 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Re6 17.f4 Bc5 18.Nxe4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Rxe4 Not 19...dxe4? 20.Rfd1 Re7 21.Bg4 which loses material. 20.Qxd5 Rxe3 21.Bc4
White only looks better. In fact, there is nothing going on. 21...Re7 22.Qxb7 The extra pawn cannot be held for long. 22.Rad1 is no good here because of b5 22...Bb5 23.Qd5 Rd7 24.Qe5 Qb6+ 25.Kh1 Bxc4 26.bxc4 Qc6 Threatens the troublesome Rd2. 27.Rfe1 A small mating threat en passant. h6 28.Rac1 Rad8 28...Rd2 29.Re2 29.h3 Rd2 30.Re2 Rd1+ 31.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 32.Kh2 Qxc4 33.Qe8+ Kh7 34.Qe4+ Qxe4 35.Rxe4 Rd5 36.Ra4 a5 The endgame could hardly be more balanced. 37.Kg3 g5 38.fxg5 hxg5 39.Kf3 Kg6 40.Ke4 Rb5 41.g4 f5+ 42.gxf5+ Rxf5 43.Ke3 Kh5 44.Ke2 Re5+ 45.Kf3 Rf5+ 46.Ke3 Re5+ 47.Kf3 Rf5+ ½–½
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nc3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Bxd4 13.Bd3 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Ne8 15.b3 d5 16.Bf4 Be6 17.Re1 Qd7 18.a4 Nd6 19.Re3 Ne4 20.Qxc7 Qxc7 21.Bxc7 Nc5 22.Bf1 Rc8 23.Be5 Nd7 24.Bd3 Nc5 25.Be2 Nd7 26.Bc3 a6 27.h4 Nf8 28.g4 f5 29.gxf5 Bxf5 30.Bf3 Be4 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.Bb4 Re8 33.Bxf8 Kxf8 34.Kf1 Kf7 35.Ke2 Kf6 36.Rg3 b5 37.axb5 axb5 38.Rg5 Rc8 39.Kd2 Rd8+ 40.Ke3 Rc8 41.Rxb5 Rxc2 42.b4 Rc3+ 43.Kxe4 Rc4+ 44.Kf3 Rxh4 45.Rb6+ Kg5 46.Rb7 g6 47.b5 Rb4 48.Rxh7 Rxb5 49.Kg3 Rb3+ 50.f3 Kf6 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lei,T2554Ju,W2564½–½2023C67WCh Women 20231
Ju,W2564Lei,T2554½–½2023D40WCh Women 20232
Lei,T2554Ju,W2564½–½2023C65WCh Women 20233
Ju,W2564Lei,T2554½–½2023D37WCh Women 20234
Lei,T2554Ju,W25641–02023C50WCh Women 20235
Ju,W2564Lei,T2554½–½2023D32WCh Women 20236
Lei,T2554Ju,W2564½–½2023B18WCh Women 20237
Ju,W2564Lei,T25541–02023A06WCh Women 20238
Lei,T2554Ju,W2564½–½2023B40WCh Women 20239
Ju,W2564Lei,T2554½–½2023A13WCh Women 202310

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