The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship 2025 has been the talk of the chess world over the past few weeks. The World Women’s chess champion Ju Wenjun and the challenger Tan Zhongyi have given and continue to give it their all.
Let’s catch you up in this mouthwatering event!
Day 6
Tan Zhongyi had the white pieces for game 6, and she opened with 1. c4, the English Opening. Ju Wenjun replied in a principled 1…e6.
In this game, however, Tan deviated from the usual 3.g3 Nc3 lines and instead decided to go for 3. b3, preparing to fianchetto her dark-squared bishop.
A few pawn exchanges occurred in the center, and Tan decided to go for a double fianchetto set-up.
The players then moved into the middlegame, both trying to get a positional advantage over the other.
The middlegame was grueling, and both players tried different strategies and tactics to gain an edge, but the position looked like it was heading for a dead draw.
However, despite the position being a draw-ish according to the engine, there was still work to be done, and both players could still slip up.
In an attempt to push for more, Tan worsened her position as she impatiently attacked Ju’s kingside with 31. h4. This move would worsen her position, and Ju would take full advantage of a King+Knight endgame.
Tan’s position was overwhelming, and she had to resign on move 52, allowing Ju Wenjun to extend her lead in the match to two full points.
Day 7
With the match slipping from her grasp, Tan Zhongyi had to do something fast. Ju Wenjun was already 2 points in the lead, so Tan needed something special to equalize.
Ju Wenjun had the white pieces in Game 7 and opened with 1. e4. Tan showed she was ready for a fight by going for the Sicilian Defense with 1…c5. Ju then decided to go for the Rossolimo Attack variation with 3. Bb5.
Tan played solidly and kept everything under control in the middle game, and it looked like the game was heading for a draw.
However, Tan’s inaccuracy on move 35 swung the match in favor of Ju Wenjun. The champion converted her advantage, won the game, and extended her lead to three points.
Day 8
The clock was ticking for Tan Zhongyi; the title was slipping away, and something had to be done.
Tan had the white pieces for this game and decided to switch it up by opening with 1. e4, abandoning her favored English Opening. Tan initially opted for the Vienna Game with 2. Nc3, but by move 5, the game had been transposed into the Four Knights Game.
Tan went all guns blazing and tried to gain an advantage by all means. However, in her flurry of attacks, she allowed her weak pawn on c2 to fall on move 28. This allowed Ju to infiltrate White’s position with her Queen.
Ju then offered a Queen exchange, which was accepted, and the game moved to a knight vs. bishop endgame.
Seeing that she could wipe off all of White’s pawns on the kingside and create two passed pawns, Ju sacrificed her bishop for two of Tan’s kingside pawns and eventually captured a third.
This exchange proved to be a masterstroke, as the two passed pawns were overwhelming for White and Tan, who had no choice but to resign on move 53.
Conclusion
With her win in Game 8, Ju Wenjun is now three points in the lead and needs just a draw to retain her world championship title. It looks very bleak for Tan Zhongyi at this point.
The match is 6-2 in favor of Ju, but the question that remains to be answered is, “Can Tan Zhongyi bounce back from an almost impossible position?”
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