Women's World Chess Championship 2023

The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, the winner of the 2022–23 Candidates tournament.

Women's World Chess Championship 2023

Shanghai & Chongqing, China
5–24 July 2023
	Defending champion	Challenger
	Ju Wenjun	Lei Tingjie
	6½ Scores 5½ Game 1 ½ 50 move draw ½ Game 2 ½ 40 move draw ½ Game 3 ½ 49 move draw ½ Game 4 ½ 63 move draw ½ Game 5 0 65 moves → 1 Game 6 ½ 48 move draw ½ Game 7 ½ 65 move draw ½ Game 8 1 ← 72 moves 0 Game 9 ½ 59 move draw ½ Game 10 ½ 47 move draw ½ Game 11 ½ 48 move draw ½ Game 12 1 ← 62 moves 0
	Born 31 January 1991 32 years old	Born 13 March 1997 26 years old
	Winner of the Women's World Chess Championship 2020	Winner of the Women's Candidates Tournament 2022–23
	Rating: 2564 (World No. 2)	Rating: 2554 (World No. 4)

It was played in two Chinese cities from 5 to 24 July 2023, giving each participant a home-field advantage.

Ju won the match and successfully defended her title.

Candidates tournament

Main article: Women's Candidates Tournament 2022–23

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.

Quarterfinals (best of 4)

Semifinals (best of 4)

Final (best of 6)

Koneru Humpy

3½

Anna Muzychuk

4½

Anna Muzychuk

1½

Pool A (Monaco)

Lei Tingjie

2½

Lei Tingjie

2½

Mariya Muzychuk

1½

Lei Tingjie

3½

Tan Zhongyi

1½

Aleksandra Goryachkina

2½

Alexandra Kosteniuk

1½

Aleksandra Goryachkina

1½

Pool B (Khiva)

Tan Zhongyi

2½

Kateryna Lagno

3½

Tan Zhongyi

4½

It featured eight players, including three former Women's World champions. In the final, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi 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. The host cities were Chongqing and Shanghai. 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 included Jovanka Houska, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daniel Naroditsky and Judit Polgar. FIDE commentators were Alik Gershon and Xu Yi.

Seconds

Ju's seconds were Pentala Harikrishna and Wei Yi, while Lei's seconds were Teimour Radjabov and Raymond Song.

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.

As of 2023, both the Open World Chess Champion (Ding Liren) and Women World Chess Champion are from China.

Women's World Chess Championship 2023

Player	Rating	Standard Time Control												Points
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Ju Wenjun (China)	2564	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	6½
Lei Tingjie (China)	2554	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	5½
Game Links

External links

• Official website
• FIDE Women's World Championship Cycle 2020 — 2023