WWC Match 2023: Ju Wenjun equalises after a grueling battle
World Champion Ju Wenjun defeated Lei Tingjie in game eight of the World Championship Match, as the challenger misplayed in the endgame. Instead of finishing her opponent swiftly, Ju went for a position with a minimal advantage but managed to squeeze a victory in the end, despite Lei having one chance to save a draw Game eight of the Match for the title of Women’s World Champion unfolded calmly. Starting with 1.Nf3, the defending World Champion Ju Wenjun opted for an opening sideline leading to a positional game. In the manouvering that followed it seemed that Ju was more in sync with the position and gained a minimal edge, but it was overall equal. Lei’s pieces were a bit uncoordinated which she resolved by an excellent move 21…a4, giving up a pawn but forcing an exchange after which it was even. Just as it seemed the two were heading for a technical draw, Lei decided not to follow the simplest line but instead opted for 28…Nb3?!, which gave White chances. Ju took them and soon, Lei was struggling – with pieces hanging and severely low on time, the challenger was in dire straits. Finally, everything aligned for the defending World Champion: she obtained a significantly better endgame and had a substantial time advantage. However, instead of finishing off her opponent with an attacking move, Ju opted to go for an exchange of pieces, ending a pawn up, but with a minimal advantage on the board. Like in game seven, Ju again gave Lei chances for a save in the endgame. In a long trench-style endgame fight that ensued, where progress was measured in inches, Lei had to hold a very uncomfortable position. Although the computers gave White a minimal edge, from a practical standpoint this was a very tough endgame for Black, who was doomed for a long defence with any mistake being fatal. Miraculously, Ju allowed Black one last chance for a draw in the end on move 56. Even though Lei made the drawing move, she missed the saving idea, choosing the wrong continuation. White was winning again. Eventually, playing with just a minute on the clock, Lei faltered. Ju managed to squeeze a victory, albeit going the long way round. Asked about how she felt after the victory, Ju said her happiness level is now “on eight out of ten”. Despite losing the game, Lei Tingjie was smiling in the press conference. She was frank: “I didn’t play precisely and gave chances to my opponent. I probably deserved to lose”. After letting victory slip in round seven, a point in game eight is a critical leap for Ju Wenjun. Winning a drawn endgame and equalising the overall score gives the defending World Champion a psychological edge. Lei will now need to show that she has enough strength and perseverance to mount a comeback. After all, maintaining composure after severe blows is fundamental for an existing or aspiring World Champion. Here follows a closer look at game eight of the match: The honorary guests making the first move in today’s round were Dai Ming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Changshou District and Chief Executive of the District-level Government and Luo Li, Employee of Sinopec Chongqing SVW Chemical Co Ltd. The World Champion, Ju Wenjun, was White. Most of the time, she would open 1.d4, but now she played 1.Nf3 – keeping her options open. Lei responded with 1…d5 and after 2.e3 c5, Ju opted double fianchetto setup stepping into uncharted territory with the early 6.d2-d4. Grandmaster Alik Gershon said that it has become clear that the “team Ju is trying to take the initiative in the openings”, to respond to the fact that in the first part of the match, Lei was the one launching opening surprises. Both sides have finished development, entering a long positional manoeuvring game. 12.a3 a5 13.h3 Bh5 14.Qe2 Rfd8 15.Rac1 Commenting on the position, Grandmaster Judit Polgar – the strongest woman chess player in history – was a bit critical of the challenger, saying that she “feels that Lei is misplacing her pieces a bit. Pawn on a5, rook on d8… If you want to have a good spot it should be on e8…”. Polgar pointed to an important moment in the positions such as this one: “This is very tricky in this complicated middlegame positions – where do you put your rooks? When you play a system, it’s very important to understand the position of the rooks. When the position opens up, the rooks will play an important role, but then you’re not going to have time to regroup them so easily, so where you position them early in the game matters”. 15…dxc4 Lei abandoned holding the tension and decided to take on c4, inviting White to the so-called hanging pawns structure. Ju spent quite a bit of time thinking about her move, although bxc4 was obvious. “I’m shocked”, said Polgar – commenting on the length of time Ju was taking in this seemingly clear position. 16.bxc4 played after eight minutes. 16…Be7 16.Qe3 Rac8 18.Rfe1 The position was still even, but now the d-file is open for Black. At the same time, one of the main attacking opportunities for White is to sacrifice the d-pawn with a d5-push and open the h1-a8 diagonal for the white-squared bishop, as noted by Judit Polgar. However, it seemed that the challenger was struggling to find the right moves and get into the groove for the position on the board. Ju picked up the speed in which she was playing her moves and also got a slightly better position, with more initiative across the board. 21…a4! A move suggested by the computer. Lei is giving up a pawn to force massive exchanges on the board. It allowed Black to trade several poorly coordinated pieces and regain some space for play. Despite being a pawn down, Black has enough activity to counter it. Also, White’s d5-pawn is hanging. Black now decided to exchange the queens, and the game was going towards a draw. With 28.d5, Ju got rid of