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Defending Ladies’s World Champion Ju Wenjun counterattacked and emerged two pawns up with a successful place because the second half of the 2023 FIDE Ladies’s World Championship started. As time ran out, nevertheless, she took a secure choice that allowed GM Lei Tingjie to flee within the endgame and keep a 4-3 lead with 5 video games to go.
Sport eight, when Ju could have the white items, begins on Sunday, July 16, at 3:00 a.m. ET / 09:00 CEST.
Find out how to watch the 2023 FIDE Ladies’s World Chess Championship
Sport seven was happening in a brand new metropolis, Lei’s hometown of Chongqing, however the change of surroundings nearly labored in Ju’s favor. She defined: “Really, I really feel it’s a brand new starting, and I am fairly having fun with Chongqing to date.”
The brand new starting prolonged to her opening to the sport, when she got here up with a brand new first transfer.
Sport 7: Lei Tingjie ½-½ Ju Wenjun
For the fourth time within the match, Lei opened with 1.e4, however this time, as an alternative of 1…e5, Ju switched to the Caro-Kann, 1…c6.
Ju Wenjun, needing a win, adjustments issues by going for the Caro-Kann! #FWWC2023 pic.twitter.com/9JEShgJ1zl
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
It was a shock, since Ju had nearly by no means accomplished that, however Lei identified that the one recreation Ju had performed within the opening was a latest one, within the Chinese language League: “She performed it in all probability two weeks in the past, three weeks in the past, and he or she by no means performed the Caro-Kann, so you possibly can count on it!”
Certain sufficient, Lei as soon as once more regarded the extra assured within the opening, with Ju spending 17 minutes as early as transfer 11, whereas Lei blitzed out a gap novelty (12.0-0) with none pause for thought. As so usually in such instances of deep preparation, nevertheless, when Lei did begin to suppose, she started to go astray.
15.Nxd7! Nxd7 16.d5! would have posed severe issues for Ju, who would have wanted to surrender a pawn for murky compensation. As a substitute 15.Bf4!? was a good transfer, and the one anticipated by our commentators, however after 15…Rad8 16.Rd3!? issues had been all of the sudden getting uncontrolled.
After 16.Rd3!? it appears Ju can equalise fully by exchanging on e5.#FWWC2023 #c24live pic.twitter.com/z2NapeDm0U
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
After 16…Nxe5! 17.dxe5 the transfer 18…Rxd3!? might have led to wild issues, with Polgar and Houska having fun with the chaos.
Sport 7 has grown wild — Judit spots why the one good transfer for Black after 17…Rxd3!? 18.exf6 Bd6 19.Bxh6!? could be 19…Rd4!
In the long run Ju went for 17…Nh7, opening up an assault on the h4-pawn#FWWC2023 pic.twitter.com/SM4mCjwEDQ
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
As a substitute Ju went for the extra modest 17…Nh7, however in strategic phrases this was dynamite. After considering for 28 minutes, Lei selected to surrender the h4-pawn to plant her knight on d6.
Initially it appears Black’s additional pawn was greater than sufficient compensation for White’s items, however each gamers struggled to search out one of the best path on this difficult middlegame. After exchanging positional inaccuracies, it was maybe Black who could possibly be happier with the ensuing place, since Ju acquired an open b-file, however Lei was nonetheless barely higher till she lashed out with 29.g4?!
Lei confessed afterward: “Through the recreation I believed g4 seems to be so enticing, and I say, okay, in all probability this was the one probability I might play g4 on this match, so I didn’t give it some thought quite a bit. I simply stated, g4, let’s go!”
I simply stated, g4, let’s go!
Lei Tingjie
Lei stated she’d underestimated Black’s counterplay, and Ju agreed, mentioning that after g4: “White should go for some assault on the kingside, however it’s very troublesome for White to have some threats… and after that, I really feel my place is sort of nice to play.”
It felt like Ju, in a troublesome match, lastly had momentum on her facet.
Judit Polgar: “And now after 29…Qa5, look, Ju Wenjun stood up for the primary time from her chair — she broke out of the cage!” #FWWC2023 pic.twitter.com/G4wZ2Wjc0R
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
The arrows our commentators drew on the board proved prophetic, because the rook got here to b2, and the queen from a5 to c3, then d3. When Ju was first tempted by an alternate of queens, she appropriately dodged it, as an alternative selecting up one other pawn.
Lei realised that, two pawns down and together with her king in peril, she had no alternative however to go for the issues of 35.f5!
Each gamers had been very brief on time, and all of the sudden there have been too many choices for severe evaluation, with other ways to seize on f5, and completely different items that could possibly be placed on g5 at completely different occasions.
Ju opted for 35…exf5 36.gxf5 gxf5 (36…Ng5! is even higher) 37.Qxf5 and we acquired the crucial place of the entire recreation.
The perfect transfer, it seems, was 37…Nf8!, planning 38…Ng6, and the black king is secure. The additional pawns would seemingly convey victory.
Ju had different choices, nevertheless, akin to 37…Ng5!?, and he or she famous one of the best strikes had been “not straightforward to search out on the board”, and that going for the sharper choices could be, “a courageous determination”. As a substitute she went for the most secure transfer, 37…Qe6?!, frightening a sigh from our commentators.
To the dismay of our commentators, Ju Wenjun performs the strong 37…Qe6!?, giving up an enormous a part of her benefit! #FWWC2023 #c24live pic.twitter.com/OOOjSNsPqW
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
Whereas a raffle within the final recreation received Ju’s Chinese language colleague GM Ding Liren the World Championship title, Ju may look again on this because the second her title slipped away—if she fails to hit again within the coming video games.
The choice was comprehensible, since even after 38.Qxe6 fxe6 39.Rd7! the endgame nonetheless regarded promising for Black, who retained a two-pawn benefit after the time management was reached.
44…h5! may need posed extra issues than 44…Kf7 within the recreation, although to win Black both wants improbable precision, or a blunder from her opponent, and most certainly a mixture of each.
As a substitute, regardless of each gamers getting right down to seconds, and Lei admitting “I really feel dizzy proper now!” within the post-game press convention, the place remained balanced, till Lei was ready to make use of a small trick to finish the five-hour recreation.
64.Nxe5! Rxh6 65.Nf7+ and, with simply knights about to be left on the board, the gamers shook palms on a draw.
A 5-hour rollercoaster ends in a draw, with Ju Wenjun lacking an enormous probability to degree the scores! #FWWC2023 pic.twitter.com/CKzStBWg4r
— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 15, 2023
GM Rafael Leitao has annotated the sport under.
That implies that Ju fell simply wanting leveling the scores, and Lei retains a one-point lead with 5 video games to go.
| Fed | Title | Rtg | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rating |
| Ju Wenjun | 2564 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3 | ||||||
| Lei Tingjie | 2554 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4 |
Ju could have the white items when the motion continues on Sunday.
The 2023 FIDE Ladies’s World Championship (FWWC) is an important girls’s over-the-board occasion of the 12 months. The defending girls’s world champion, GM Ju Wenjun, faces the challenger, GM Lei Tingjie, to see who might be topped world champion. The championship began on July 5 and boasts a €500,000 prize fund.
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