The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...

title. It was contested by the defending champion,

Ju Wenjun Ju Wenjun (; born 31 January 1991) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She is the reigning five-time Women's World Champion, the reigning Women's World Blitz Chess Champion, and a two-time Women's World Rapid Chess Champion. In March 2017, she be ...

, and her challenger,

Lei Tingjie Lei Tingjie (, born 3 March 1997) is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster. 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 earne ...

, the winner of the 2022–23 Candidates tournament. It was played from 5 to 24 July 2023, in the hometowns of the two participants, giving each a home-field advantage for half the match. Ju won the match and successfully defended her title.

Candidates tournament

The second edition of the women's Candidates was played in the last quarter of 2022. In contrast to the previous edition, this was played in a knock-out format. It has been speculated that the pairings were made to prevent a Russia vs Ukraine matchup before the final. It featured eight players, including three former Women's World champions. In the final, Lei Tingjie and

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 ...

played a six-game match to determine the Challenger spot. Lei Tingjie won the match in 5 games.

Match

The match was scheduled for 5 to 25 July 2023. As in 2018, it was played in two halves, giving each player a home advantage for half the match. The host cities were hometowns of the participants,

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Shanghai hosted the first half and Chongqing the second. The format of the championship was a 12-game match as in previous years. English-language commentators on

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

included

Jovanka Houska Jovanka Houska (born 10 June 1980) is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a nine-time British Chess Championship, British Women's Chess Champion. Formative years Born in south L ...

Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (; born 23 April 1984) is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion ...

Daniel Naroditsky Daniel Naroditsky (born November 9, 1995), often referred to as Danya, is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator. Chess career Born in San Mateo, California, Naroditsky learned chess at age six from his father. He was soon taki ...

and Judit Polgar. FIDE commentators were

Alik Gershon Alik Gershon (; born 3 June 1980, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) is an Israeli chess grandmaster. On 21 October 2010 he set the Guinness World Record for simultaneous games after playing 523 opponents in Tel Aviv. After 18 hours and 30 minutes, h ...

and Xu Yi.

Seconds

Ju's seconds were

Pentala Harikrishna Pentala Harikrishna (born 10 May 1986) is an Indian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. He achieved a peak world ranking of 10 in November 2016, and a peak Elo rating system, Elo rating of 2770 in December 2016. On 17 August 2001, he bec ...

and

Wei Yi Wei Yi (; born 2 June 1999) is a Chinese chess grandmaster. Wei became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days, the 9th youngest in history. He is the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2700, accomplishing this feat ...

, while Lei's seconds were

Teimour Radjabov Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; , ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster in March 2001 at age 14, ...

and

Raymond Song Raymond Song (Chinese: 宋法昀, born 11 January 1994) is a Taiwanese chess Grandmaster. He is Taiwan's first ever Grandmaster, and the top ranked player nationally. A former prodigy, he finished equal first at the World Youth Championship Und ...

Schedule

*4 July: Opening Ceremony (Shanghai) *5 and 6 July: Games 1 and 2 *8 and 9 July: Games 3 and 4 *11 and 12 July: Games 5 and 6 *13 July: Transfer to Chongqing *15 and 16 July: Games 7 and 8 *18 and 19 July: Games 9 and 10 *21 and 22 July: Games 11 and 12 *23 July: Tiebreaks (if needed) *24 July: Closing Ceremony Games start at 3 p.m. local time (07:00 UTC).

Results

At the opening ceremony, Lei Tingjie received the white pieces for the first game of the match, with colors alternating after every game. From 2023 to 2024, both the Open World Chess Champion (

Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...

) and Women's World Chess Champion were from China.

References

External links

Official website

FIDE Women's World Championship Cycle 2020 — 2023
{{World championships in 2023 Women's World Chess Championships 2023 in chess

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

2023 in Chinese sport July 2023 sports events in Asia Sport in Chongqing Sports competitions in Shanghai Chess in China International sports competitions hosted by China