Women's World Championship: Ju Wenjun surges ahead

by Georgios Souleidis
5/7/2018 – Tan Zhongyi has a rating of 2522, is number ten on the women's rating list, and reigning Women's World Champion, but with a rating of 2571 challenger Ju Wenjun is number two on the women's rating list and favourite to win the Women's World Championship match in Shanghai. Ju indeed dominates at the start of the ten-game match and after three games leads 2½-½. In game three Tan lost in 27 moves after misplaying the opening. | Photos: Gu Xiaobing

The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White! The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!

The Catalan is one of the most solid openings for White. It forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. Grandmaster Victor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Suffice it to say that the Catalan rules!

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Game 3: Ju Wenjun wins with the Catalan

Game 3 of the Women's World Championship was a theoretical duel. Ju Wenjun played with White and opted for a Catalan. Up to move 12 both players followed a well-known line which they had already discussed in a game at the Chinese Women's Championship 2013. But with 12...Be7 Tan Zhongyi treid something new and deviated from her own example and almost all other games in this line in which Black usually removes the queen from the d-file to avoid unpleasant surprises by White's rook on d1.

It is unclear whether this was preparation because two moves later Tan ventured 14...g5? which looks rather violent and is a decisive mistake. This move soon cost Tan a pawn and weakened Black's king's position beyond repair. The black king was stuck in the center which Ju exploited with energetic play that forced Tan to resign after 27 moves because she could not avoid serious material losses.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 Rb8 7.Nc3 b5 8.Ne5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nd7 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.Bxb7 Rxb7 12.Rd1 Be7 12...Qc8 13.Ne4 13.a4?! b4 14.Nb5?! a6 15.Nd4 c5 16.Nf3 c3 17.bxc3 b3 18.Qb2 c4 19.Bf4 Be7 20.a5 0-0 21.h4 h6 22.Kh2 Qc6 23.Rd4 Qb5 24.Qd2 Bc5 25.Re4 f5 26.exf6 Nxf6 27.Rxe6 Rd7 28.Qb2 Ng4+ 29.Kg2 Bxf2 30.Rf1 Qf5 31.Rxa6 Bxg3 32.Bd2 Rxd2 33.Qxd2 Bf4 34.e4 Qxe4 35.Qe1 Ne3+ 36.Kg1 Bh2+ 0-1 Ju,W (2544) -Tan,Z (2483) Wuxi 2013 13...Nxe5 14.b3 f5 15.Bb2 Nc6 16.Nd2 Nb4 17.Qc1 cxb3 18.axb3 c5 19.Nf3 Nd5 20.Qg5 Be7? 21.Qh5+? 21.Qxg7 Bf6 22.Bxf6 Rxg7 23.Bxg7+- 21...g6 22.Qh6 Bf8 23.Qc1 Bg7 24.Bxg7 Rxg7 25.Ra5 a6 26.Qa1 0-0 27.Rxa6 Nc3 28.Rdd6 Nxe2+ 29.Kf1 Qb7 30.Rac6 Nd4 31.Nxd4 cxd4 32.Qxd4 Re7 33.Qe5 Rfe8 34.h4 Kf7 35.h5 Rd8?? 35...b4 36.hxg6+ hxg6 37.Rxe6 Rd1+ 38.Ke2 Qd7 1-0 Kozul,Z (2594)-Saric,A (2587) Zagreb 2016 13.Qe4 13.a4!? 13...Qc8 14.Qg4 g5? 15.Qh5!+- Nc5 15...b4 16.Ne4 Rb5 17.Nxg5 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Rxe5 19.Qh6+- 16.Bxg5 c6 16...Bxg5 17.Qxg5 b4 18.Nb1+- 17.Rd4 17.Bf6! 17...Rd7 18.Bxe7 Kxe7 19.Qh4+ Ke8 20.Rad1 Qd8 21.Qf4 Rxd4 22.Rxd4 Qb6 23.Rd6 Rf8 24.Ne4 Nxe4 25.Qxe4 Qb7 26.Rxc6 Kd7 Other moves are also hopeless - Black's king is too exposed. 27.Qd4+! A nice finish. If Black takes the rook on c6 she is mated with 28. Qc6#, and after 27...Ke8 28.Qc5 Kd7 29.Qd6+ Ke8 30.Rc7 Black loses the queen. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ju,W2571Tan,Z25221–02018E04Womens World Championship Match 20183

Ju Wenjun won the second game in a row

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Georgios Souleidis is an International Master with a degree in media and communication studies. He is an experienced journalist, author, photographer, chess trainer, editor-in-chief for the German Bundesliga, YouTuber, a regular contributor to the chessbase website, German chess magazine SCHACH, and previously blogged on his own site entwicklungsvorsprung.de.

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