Ju Wenjun, currently 34, is a Chinese chess player, and for the last eight years, she has remained the world’s best with no one near her. What makes her special is her calm and yet fierce moves while playing the matches. The World Chess Championship that took place in Chongqing this Wednesday needed her to play a draw to win the match, and unlike her fierce nature, the match took a rather easy turn, making Ju defend her title by 6.5-2.5, with three games to hand.
She defeated her opponent, Zhongyi, also a Chinese player, with three games left to go, and claimed the title for the fifth year, beating her own records. Zhongyi, the 2017 champion, took the lead in the knockout round but was soon defeated by Ju in the third round when she made a strong comeback. After that, there was no going back for Ju, who won four matches against the opponent.
The last match was an interesting one where Ju needed just a draw, and in the 38th move, her challenged gave up, which meant a clear win for her. It is being said that though Ju is a great player, the match was between two equally talented players and hence an easy victory was not expected. However, the title remained with China no matter who won.
Ju, born in 1991, has been playing chess since the age of 7, and won her first title at 14 in the Asian Women’s championship. She defeated Tan Zhongyi in 2018 to become the 17th World champion, when the world championship was organised as a knockout for the last time. She has retained the title after winning subsequent matches in 2020 against the Argentinian player Goryachkina, in 2023 against Lei Tingjie, and once again in 2025 against Tan.
