Four world-title victories
Two Chinese players have recorded the biggest successes in Women’s World Championship cycles since the turn of the century: Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun.
With her 6½-5½ victory over Lei Tingjie, Ju has triumphed in battles for the title no fewer than four times, much like Hou, who collected her four triumphs between 2010 and 2016. Despite having given up classical chess almost completely, Hou is still the highest-rated woman player in the world, but her leaving the Women’s World Championship cycle allowed for a new queen to ascend.
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.
Ju is, in fact, the second-highest rated woman player in the world, as her 2568 live rating is a notch above that of Aleksandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno and her last challenger, Lei Tingjie — all formidable players who have failed to outperform the 32-year-old from Shanghai.
The fact that Ju has already beat Tan Zhongyi, Goryachkina and now Lei speaks volumes about her ability to deal with high-pressure situations. The one time she won the title in a knockout tournament, back in 2018, she was trailing Lagno by a point going into the final classical game of their match — Ju won the game on demand and went on to outscore her opponent in playoffs. In 2020, she also beat Goryachkina in rapid tiebreakers, right after the Russian star had herself won game 12 on demand.
Now, in the all-Chinese confrontation against Lei, we got to see another match going down to the wire, with an exciting final classical game tipping the balance in the defending champion’s favour. Talk about entertainment value at the very highest level!

Lei Tingjie proved to be a remarkable challenger | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Clutch win
Game 12 was by no means a boring affair. Instead of signing a quick draw and taking the match to rapid playoffs (where the fact that there are more games lessens the damage provoked by single mistakes), the Chinese duo entered a double-edged opening variation.
With connected passers on the queenside for White, and Black having a strong pawn centre and the more solid structure, it seemed increasingly likely that the game would end decisively. Ju’s decision to get two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn (one of the dangerous passers) further sharpened the position.
The queens were already off the board when Lei erred strategically with 22...e5. From that point on, Ju showed her class and went on to get the 62-move win that allowed her to keep the women’s world champion crown!
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.b4 a5 6.c3 axb4 7.cxb4 b6 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10.a4 bxc5 11.b5 11...Qc7 12.Bb2 Bd6 13.0-0 0-0 14.Nbd2 Rfc8 15.Qc2 c4?! 15...e5! 16.e4 c4! 16.Bc3 Nc5 16...e5 17.a5 17.a5 Nb3 18.Bxf6?! 18.Ra2!± 18...Nxa1 19.Bxa1 Qxa5 20.Qc3 Qxc3 20...Bf8 21.Rb1 f6 21.Bxc3 Rcb8 22.Nd4 22...e5?! 22...Bc5= 23.Nf5 Bf8 23...Bc7? 24.Ne7+ 24.Bxe5 Rxb5 25.g4 25...g6 26.Nd4 Rb2?! 26...Rb6! 27.Nb1! Bg7? 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Nc3 Ra5 30.Rd1 Rb6 31.Nde2 Rb3 32.Kg2 h6 33.Kf3 f6 34.Rc1 Kf7 35.Nf4 35...d4 36.exd4 g5 37.Nfe2 f5 38.gxf5 Rxf5+ 39.Ke3 g4 40.Nf4 Rb8 41.d5 Rf6 42.Rc2 Ra8 43.Nb5 Rb6 44.Nd4 Ra3+ 45.Ke4 c3 46.Nfe2 Rb2 47.Kd3 Rb1 48.Nxc3 48...Rh1 49.f3 gxf3 50.Nxf3 Rf1 51.Nd4 Ke7 52.Kc4 Rf4 53.Rb2 Rh4 54.Rb7+ Kf6 55.Rb2 Ra8 56.Kc5 Rh3 57.Ncb5 Re3 58.d6 Ke5 59.Nc6+ Ke4 60.d7 Rd3 61.Nd6+ Kf4 62.Rb8 1–0
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Ju Wenjun took home this beautiful trophy | Photo: Stev Bonhage
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
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 15...d5N 15...d6 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Qb4 Bc6 18.Qf4 Qe7 19.Bc3 Nf6 20.Re1 Nd5 21.Bxh7+ 16.Bf4 Be6 17.Re1 Qd7 18.a4 Nd6 19.Re3 Ne4 20.Qxc7 20.Bxe4 d4 21.Qd3 21.Qxc7 Qxc7 22.Bxc7 dxe3 21...dxe3 22.Bxh7+ Kh8 23.Qxd7 Bxd7 20...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 28...Bd7 29.gxf5 29.Bb4± Rc6 30.gxf5 Bxf5 31.Bf3 29...Bxf5 30.Bf3 Be4 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.Bb4! Re8 33.Bxf8 Kxf8 34.Kf1 Kf7 34...b5= 35.Ke2 Kf6 36.Rg3 36.Rc3± 36...b5 37.axb5 axb5 38.Rg5 Rc8 39.Kd2 Rd8+ 39...b4 40.Rg4 40.Ke3 Rc8 41.Rxb5 41...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 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2566 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 1.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2566 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 2.1 |
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2566 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 3.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2566 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 4.1 |
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2566 | 1–0 | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 5.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2566 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 6.1 |
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2564 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 7.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2564 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | 1–0 | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 8.1 |
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2564 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 9.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2564 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 10.1 |
Lei Tingjie | 2554 | Ju Wenjun | 2564 | ½–½ | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 11.1 |
Ju Wenjun | 2564 | Lei Tingjie | 2554 | 1–0 | 2023 | | WWCCM 2023 | 12.1 |
Please, wait...
Links