Ju’s winning streak leaves rival reeling in women’s world chess title clash

Chinese women’s world champion GM Ju Wenjun is just a draw away from retaining the title she has held since 2018, using a four-game midmatch winning streak to pull away from compatriot and longtime rival GM Tan Zhongyi in their scheduled 12-game clash in Shanghai and Chongqing.

The 34-year-old Ju needs just a draw in Wednesday’s Game 9 to clinch the win, which would be her fourth successful title defense.

With the match tied at 2-2, Ju began her surge with a powerful performance from the White side of a Kan Sicilian in Game 5 to kick-start her dominant run.

She adroitly handles Black’s offbeat idea 9. Nc3 Ne5?! in this line with 10. c5!? (apparently a surprise to Tan) N7g6?! (more to the point was 10…b6 [Nxd3 11. Qxd3 b6 12. Bf4 bxc5 13. Bd6, with an edge] 11. Be3 bxc5 12. Bxc5 Bxc5 13. Nxc5 0-0 14. Be2 Qc7, with a reasonable game) 11. Be2 (preserving the bishop and preparing to roll up the center with an f-pawn push) b5 12. f4 Nc4 13. a4 (even stronger may have been 13. Qd4! Qf6 14. e5 Qe7 15. f5 Ngxe5 16. f6 gxf6 17. Ne4, and Black has some notable weak spots) b4 14. Bxc4 bxc3 15. bxc3 Bb7 16. Qe2, and Black has no real compensation for the lost pawn and her dark-squared bishop is locked out of play.

Ju wins a second pawn with 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Bxa6 and facing a dreary, borderline-lost ending, Black tries to mix things up with 26. Raf1 Nxf4!? 27. Rxf4 Bxf4 28. Rxf4 Re1+ 29. Rf1 Rxf1+ 30. Kxf1 Qe4, with some attacking hopes on the exposed White king.

But the champ defends accurately, and her minor pieces collaborate superbly to fend off the enemy threats: 33. Qd5 h6?! (Black probably had to roll the dice here with 33…Rh1+ 34. Kg3 Qe1+, but White holds in lines like 35. Bf2 Qxc3+ 36. Kf4 h6 37. Nd2! Rd1 38. Be3 g5+ 39. Kf3 f4 40. Qd4+ Qxd4 41. Bxd4+ Kg8 42. Ke2) 34. Nd2 Rh1+ 35. Kg3 Qe1+ 36. Bf2 Qe2 37. Qd4 Rd1 38. Be3, and the compact White army keeps the threats at bay.

Ju’s 51. a6! Rxa6 52. Qxf4 Ra2 53. Qf3 Qe6 54. Nf5 g5 55. Ne3 pretty much kills Black’s attacking hopes, and White can now exploit the multiple targets around the Black king. White shows world-class technique in delivering the final blow: 58. Qd3 Kg8 (Qg6 59. Qxg6+ Kxg6 60. Ne7+) 59. Ne7+!, and Black resigned because of 59…Qxe7 60. Qg6+ Kf8 61. Qf5+ Qf7 62. Qxc8+ and wins.

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GM Fridrik Olafsson, who blazed a trail in the mid-20th century that made Iceland an unlikely global chess power, passed away earlier this month at the age of 90 after a short illness.

As a player, Olafsson claimed six national titles, played in eight Olympiads, was the first Icelander to qualify for the world championship candidates’ cycle, and scored memorable wins over such greats as Bobby Fischer, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov and Mikhail Tal. In the age of Soviet chess hegemony before Fischer’s rise to greatness, Olafsson has at least a claim to be among the best of the West, with plus career scores at classical time controls against such stars as America’s Sammy Reshevsky, the Netherlands’ Jan Timman, and Bent Larsen, the Danish star with whom Olafsson engaged in dozens of memorable battles over his long career.

A lawyer by profession, he also left his mark on the game in other ways, helping convince Fischer to accept Reykjavik as an acceptable host for the historic 1972 match with Boris Spassky and serving four years as president of FIDE, the game’s global governing body, from 1978 to 1982. The chess boom he helped inspire in his native land has long allowed Iceland to claim it has produced more grandmasters per capita than any country on earth.

Olafsson’s skills at the chessboard were on display in a game from the 1974 Las Palmas Tournament in Spain against noted Argentine GM Miguel Quinteros. In another Kan Sicilian, Black’s premature push on the queenside is brutally punished by White, leading to a sacrificial mating attack that forces quick resignation.

The b-pawn thrust is key to many Black lines in this opening, but it has to be properly prepared. Instead, Black’s rash 7. 0-0 b5?! (a bad idea when Black had several reasonable moves, including 7…Nc6, 7…d6 and 7…Be7) 8. Bf3 Nc6 (there’s already landmines lurking for Black in the position; e.g. 8…Ra7 9. Re1 d6 10. Bf4! e5 11. Bg5 exd4? 12. Nd5! Nxd5 13. exd5+ Be7 14. Rxe7+ and wins) 9. e5, and now Black’s only practical choice appears to be the craven 9…Ng8 10. Nxc6 dxc6 11. a4 Rb8 12. Ne4 Qxe5 13. axb5 cxb5 14. Re1, and White enjoys massive attacking compensation for the sacrificed pawn.

Instead, the attacking floodgates open on 9…b4? 10. exf6 bxc3 11. Nxc6 dxc6 (cxb2 12. Bxb2 Rg8 13. Ne7) 12. Bf4!, exploiting the fact that the Black queen dare not leave the defense of the c6-pawn. By 15. Rab1 Qa7 16. Rfd1 gxf6 17. Qc4, Olafsson has built up a fabulous attacking array, and he sweeps away Black’s desperate efforts to blunt the assault.

Thus: 17…Bc5 (see diagram; also losing was 17…Rc8 18. Be3 Qc7 19. Qxa6 Rb8 20. Rxb8+ Qxb8 21. Bxc6) 18. Rxd7! Kxd7 (Bxf2+ 19. Kf1 Kxd7 20. Qxc6+ Kd8 [Ke7 21. Qd6+ Ke8 22. Bc6+ with mate around the corner] 21. Rd1+ Ke7 22. Bd6+ Kd8 23. Bc7+ Ke7 24. Qd6+ Ke8 25. Bc6 mate) 19. Bxc6+!! (the Black king is lured out into the open, where he will not survive long) Kxc6 (no better was 19…Kd8 20. Rd1+, leading to lines such as 20…Kc8 21. Bd7+ Kd8 22. Bb5+ Kc8 23. Bxa6+! Qxa6 24. Qxc5+ Kb7 25. Qc7 mate) 20. Qa4+!, and Black has seen enough and resigns.

There are mates all around after 20…Kd5 21. Rd1+ Bd4 22. Rxd4+ Qxd4 (Kc5 23. Bd6+ Kb6 24. Rb4 mate) 23. Qxd4+ Kc6 24. Qd6+ Kb5 (Kb7 25. Qc7 mate) 25. a4+ Kxa4 (Kc4 26. Qd4 mate) 26. Qb4 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Ju-Tan, Game 5, FIDE Women’s World Championship Match, Shanghai, April 2025

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. O-O Ne7 8. c4 Nbc6 9. Nc3 Ne5 10. c5 N7g6 11. Be2 b5 12. f4 Nc4 13. a4 b4 14. Bxc4 bxc3 15. bxc3 Bb7 16. Qe2 O-O 17. Bd3 f5 18. exf5 exf5 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Bxa6 Rfe8 21. Bxb7 Qxb7 22. Qc4+ Kh8 23. Bd4 Re6 24. h3 Rae8 25. Rf2 Bb8 26. Raf1 Nxf4 27. Rxf4 Bxf4 28. Rxf4 Re1+ 29. Rf1 Rxf1+ 30. Kxf1 Qe4 31. Kg1 Qb1+ 32. Kh2 Re1 33. Qd5 h6 34. Nd2 Rh1+ 35. Kg3 Qe1+ 36. Bf2 Qe2 37. Qd4 Rd1 38. Be3 Kh7 39. a5 Re1 40. Bf2 Rd1 41. Be3 Re1 42. Nc4 Ra1 43. Nd6 Ra2 44. Bf2 Qe6 45. Qf4 Kg6 46. Kh2 Qf6 47. Nc4 Kh7 48. Bd4 Qe6 49. Nd6 Qg6 50. Qf3 f4 51. a6 Rxa6 52. Qxf4 Ra2 53. Qf3 Qe6 54. Nf5 g5 55. Ne3 d6 56. c6 Ra8 57. Nd5 Rc8 58. Qd3+ Kg8 59. Ne7+ Black resigns.

Olafsson-Quinteros, Las Palmas Tournament, Las Palmas, Spain, April 1974

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 Nf6 7. O-O b5 8. Bf3 Nc6 9. e5 b4 10. exf6 bxc3 11. Nxc6 dxc6 12. Bf4 Qd7 13. Qe2 Qb7 14. bxc3 Bd7 15. Rab1 Qa7 16. Rfd1 gxf6 17. Qc4 Bc5 18. Rxd7 Kxd7 19. Bxc6+ Kxc6 20. Qa4+ Black resigns.