Ju Wenjun (; born 31 January 1991) is a Chinese

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it h ...

. She is the current

Women's World Chess Champion The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wh ...

. In March 2017 she became the fifth woman to achieve a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of 2600. She is a four-time Women's World Chess Champion, having won the title first in May 2018 (against

Tan Zhongyi Tan Zhongyi (; born 29 May 1991) is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of grandmaster (GM). She is a former Women's World Champion, winning the 2017 knockout edition of the world championship in Iran where she defeated Anna Muzychuk i ...

). She then defended her title in November 2018 (against

Kateryna Lagno Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno (russian: Екатерина Александровна Лагно, ; born 27 December 1989) is a Russian (formerly Ukrainian) chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, she earned the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM) at the ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

(against

Aleksandra Goryachkina Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina (russian: Алекса́ндра Ю́рьевна Горя́чкина; born 28 September 1998) is a Russian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). She is the No. 2 ranked woman ...

), and

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

(against

Lei Tingjie Lei Tingjie (born 13 March 1997) is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She was the 2021 Women's Grand Swiss champion, the 2017 Chinese women's national champion and the 2022-23 Women's Candidates winner. Lei ear ...

Career

Ju started learning to play chess at the age of seven. In December 2004, Ju Wenjun placed third in the Asian Women's Chess Championship in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. This result qualified her to play in her first

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wher ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. She competed in this event also in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. She won the Women's

Chinese Chess Championship The Chinese Chess Championship is the annual individual national chess championship of China. Following are the official winners of the national championship from 1957 to date. Winners : Women's Crosstables : Average Elo: 2324 Cat: 3 m = 6 ...

in 2010 and 2014. In July 2011 she won the

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament undefeated with a score of 6½/9 points, ahead of the then women's world champion

Hou Yifan Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time.

. In October 2011 she took the second place at the

Nalchik Nalchik (russian: Нальчик, p=ˈnalʲtɕɪk; Kabardian: //; krc, Нальчик //) is the capital city of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwe ...

stage of the

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12 The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2013. The winner of the Grand Prix, Hou Yifan, will challenge t ...

with 7/11, ranked only after her compatriot

Zhao Xue Zhao Xue (; born 6 April 1985) is a Chinese chess player. She is the 24th Chinese person to achieve the title of Grandmaster. Zhao was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese team at the Women's Chess Olympiad in 2002, 2004 and 2016, and a ...

; her performance was enough to acquire her third and final

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

required for the Grandmaster title. However, one of the three norms was missing the signature of the arbiter, disqualifying her for consideration for the title. From June 18 to July 2, 2014, in the 5th stage of the

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The winner of the Grand Prix was decided in the last sta ...

held in Lopota Resort, Georgia she finished jointly second with

Elina Danielian Elina Danielian ( hy, Էլինա Դանիելյան; born 16 August 1978 in Baku) is an Armenian chess grandmaster and six-time Armenian women's champion (1993, 1994. 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004). She has represented Armenia twelve times during the ...

and a 7/11 score. This marks her fourth GM norm. In the 6th stage of the

held in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, United Arab Emirates, from August 24 to September 7, 2014 she placed joint first with Hou Yifan with a score of 8.5/11, winning the event thanks to a better tiebreak score. In November 2014,

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

awarded her the GM title in the 4th quarter Presidential Board meeting in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia. With six GM norms, including three norms from the Women's Grand Prix (1 from each series), she is now a fully fledged grandmaster, China's 31st grandmaster and the 31st woman to hold the title. Also in 2014, she tied for first with

in the 4th China Women Masters Tournament in

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

. In December 2017, Ju won the Women's

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE recognized tourn ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

, and won in the same championship held in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in December 2018, scoring 11½/15 (+8=7) and 10/12 (+8=4), respectively. Ju earned the biggest win of her career in the fifth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024, defeating then world number 6

Alireza Firouzja Alireza Firouzja ( fa, علی‌رضا فیروزجا, ; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest ever 2800- rated player, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months ...

World championship

Ju Wenjun won

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 The FIDE Grand Prix, FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 was a series of five chess tournaments exclusively for women, which determined one player to play in the Women's World Chess Championship Match 2018, a 10-game match against the knockout world ...

. This qualified her for a match for the women's world championship against incumbent champion

. Ju won the match in May 2018, becoming women's world champion. The next women's world championship was decided by a 64-player knockout tournament. Ju won the tournament, which was held in November 2018, retaining the women's world chess champion title. Since then, she has defended her title in matches twice: first against

in the Women's World Chess Championship 2020 (6-6; 2.5–1.5 in tiebreaks), then against

in the

Women's World Chess Championship 2023 The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship is an upcoming chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It is contested by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, the winner of the Women's Candidates Tourn ...

(6.5-5.5).

Team events

Ju Wenjun has played for the Chinese national women's team since 2008. Her team has won the gold medal in the

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad ( az, 42-ci Şahmat Olimpiadası; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this ...

in 2016, Women's

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

in 2009 and 2011, Women's Asian Nations Chess Cup in 2012, 2014 and 2016, gold medal in the Olympiad at 2018, and

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

. In 2013, she won the silver medal with team Shanghai in the Asian Cities Chess Championship in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. She plays for the Shanghai

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs host over the board, face to face chess more t ...

in the

China Chess League The China Chess League (CCL) () is a Chinese professional league for chess clubs. The league is organized by the Chinese Chess Association. It is sponsored by Youngor Group and was sponsored by the Shandongbr>Torch Real Estate Group(2005–2009 ...

(CCL).

Personal life

Ju graduated from

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics The Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE; ), founded in 1917, is a finance- and economics-oriented research university located in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. The university is under the direct administration of the ...

in 2015.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ju, Wenjun 1991 births Living people Chinese female chess players Chinese chess players Chess Grandmasters Female chess grandmasters Chess players from Shanghai Women's world chess champions Chess Olympiad competitors Asian Games medalists in chess Asian Games gold medalists for China Chess players at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Universiade medalists in chess FISU World University Games gold medalists for China FISU World University Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Shanghai University of Finance and Economics alumni