Women's World Chess Championship 2020

The 2020 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by Ju Wenjun (world champion as winner of the 2018 knock-out championship) and her challenger, Aleksandra Goryachkina, the winner of a newly established Candidates Tournament that was held in 2019.[1]

Women's World Chess Championship 2020
Shanghai, China & Vladivostok, Russia
5–24 January 2020
 
Defending champion
Challenger
 
  China Ju Wenjun Russia Aleksandra Goryachkina
 
6 (2½)Scores6 (1½)
Game 1½97 move draw½
Game 2½40 move draw½
Game 3½85 move draw½
Game 41 63 moves0
Game 5051 moves 1
Game 6½105 move draw½
Game 7½67 move draw½
Game 8045 moves 1
Game 91 62 moves0
Game 101 62 moves0
Game 11½40 move draw½
Game 12060 moves 1
Tiebreak Game 13½67 move draw½
Tiebreak Game 14½72 move draw½
Tiebreak Game 151 45 moves0
Tiebreak Game 16½77 move draw½
  Born 31 January 1991
28 years old
Born 28 September 1998
21 years old
  Winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2018 Winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2019
  Rating: 2584
(World No. 2)
Rating: 2578
(World No. 4)
2023 →

The match was planned in two parts, one held in Shanghai (China) and one in Vladivostok (Russia), from 3 to 24 January 2020. It marked a return to a match-only format for the title with a qualifying Candidates Tournament, after new FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich had expressed his dissatisfaction with the knock-out tournaments and resulting frequently changing world champions.

Ju Wenjun successfully defended her title.

Candidates Tournament

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The newly-established Candidates Tournament was held from 29 May to 19 June 2019 in Kazan, Russia. The format was an eight-player double round-robin tournament.[2]

Three players qualified by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the last championship.[3] All remaining players came from the rating list, by taking the average of all twelve monthly ratings in 2018.[4] Aleksandra Goryachkina replaced Hou Yifan, who declined an invitation.[5]

Qualifiers

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Place Player Points Women's
world no.
Elo
(May 2019)
Women's World champion
1   Aleksandra Goryachkina 9.5 9 2522
2   Anna Muzychuk 8 7 2539
3   Kateryna Lagno 7 4 2554
4   Tan Zhongyi 7 10 2513 2017
5   Nana Dzagnidze 6.5 11 2510
6   Mariya Muzychuk 6.5 3 2563 2015
7   Alexandra Kosteniuk 6 6 2546 2008
8   Valentina Gunina 5.5 13 2506

Goryachkina won with two rounds to spare.[6][7]

Crosstable

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Leading player after each round in green.

No. Player Elo
(May 2019)[8]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Tie-breaks Results by round Place
H2H Wins 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1   Valentina Gunina (RUS) 2506 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 2 2 3 8
2   Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS) 2546 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 6 ½ 1 1 3 3 6 7
3   Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) 2522 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 3 4 5 8 9 1
4   Kateryna Lagno (RUS) 2554 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 7 ½ 1 1 2 4 5 6 6 7 3
5   Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) 2510 1 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 4 4 4 6 5
6   Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) 2563 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 3 5 6
7   Anna Muzychuk (UKR) 2539 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 8 ½ ½ ½ 1 3 5 8 2
8   Tan Zhongyi (CHN) 2513 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 7 ½ ½ 1 2 4 5 6 7 4

Championship match

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As in 2018, the match was divided into two parts, hosted by the countries of the players. One stage was held in Shanghai, China and the other in Vladivostok, Russia.[9] In Shanghai the match was played in the InterContinental Shanghai Jing'An Hotel, in Vladivostok at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.[10] The format was increased to twelve games, the last championships having consisted of only 10 scheduled games.

The classical time-control portion of the match ended with a tied score of 6-6, after 3 victories for Ju, 3 victories for Goryachkina, and 6 draws. On 24 January, 4 games of rapid chess were used as a tie-breaker; and Ju Wenjun retained the title with 1 win and 3 draws.

Schedule

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The match started off in Shanghai and ended in Vladivostok.

Shanghai 4 Jan Opening ceremony
5–6 Jan Games 1–2
8–9 Jan Games 3–4
11–12 Jan Games 5–6
Vladivostok 15 Jan Opening ceremony
16–17 Jan Games 7–8
19–20 Jan Games 9–10
22–23 Jan Games 11–12
24 Jan Tiebreak games and closing ceremony

Results

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Women's World Chess Championship 2020
Player Rating Standard Time Control Points Rapid Tie-Breaks Tie-Break
Points
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R1 R2 R3 R4
  Ju Wenjun (China) 2584 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 6 ½ ½ 1 ½
  Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) 2578 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 6 ½ ½ 0 ½
Game Links [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]

References

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  1. ^ "International Chess Federation - FIDE". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. ^ "Rules book" (PDF). www.fide.com. 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  3. ^ "Women's World Ch: Tension". Chess News. November 14, 2018.
  4. ^ "Frauen-WM: Die FIDE ändert den Modus". Schach Nachrichten. November 29, 2018.
  5. ^ "International Chess Federation - FIDE". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  6. ^ "Goryachkina is the new World Championship challenger". Chess News. June 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Houska (JovankaHouska), Jovanka (17 June 2019). "Goryachkina Wins Women's Candidates' Ahead Of Anna Muzychuk". Chess.com.
  8. ^ "Top 100 Women May 2019 – Archive". FIDE.
  9. ^ "International Chess Federation - FIDE". www.fide.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  10. ^ "Frauen-Weltmeisterschaft: Ju Wenjun gegen Aleksandra Goryachkina". Schach Nachrichten. January 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 1". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  12. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 2". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  13. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 3". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  14. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 4". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  15. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 5". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  16. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 6". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  17. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 7". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  18. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 8". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  19. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 9". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  20. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 10". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  21. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rd 11". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  22. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rd 12". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  23. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rapid Rd 1". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  24. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rapid Rd 2". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  25. ^ "Ju Wenjun vs Aleksandra Goryachkina, Rapid Rd 3". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
  26. ^ "Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Ju Wenjun, Rapid Rd 4". Chessgames.com. Chessgames Services LLC.
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