Women's World Championship Warm-Up
Warm up for the match with crushing moves from Grandmasters Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi
One of my favorite things in chess is when simplicity meets difficulty. What does that even mean? Well, I mean a move that is deliciously simple once you see it, but so hard to find before you see it. Here’s an example from former World Champion, Tan Zhongyi, who contends for the throne again this month.
I love this one because the hanging bishop on f8 makes the correct move even harder to see.
Answer in footnotes1
Tan Zhongyi defeated FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky with another snazzy tactic.
Tan Zhongyi played 44…Nb4!, discovering the threat of …Rd1! Other knight moves, like 44...Nc1 or 44….Nf4 allow White to coordinate with 45.Re1 (impossible after …Nb4 due to the Nc2+ fork.)
Sutovsky tried the trickiest attempt, 45.Nc6 but to no avail after Nxc6 46. Re1 Rd5 and White resigned a few moves later.
In both cases, the tactics are not your typical pattern. Usual patterns are likely to be seen by everyone, so to win against elite competition, it’s all about finding rarer implementations. This holds true at all levels, and outside chess as well: to level up, find the business and life moves that no one sees until they’re obvious.
This next one is not as unusual, but is flashy and historic. Find Tan Zhongyi’s quickest win, from her 2018 World Championship match against Ju Wenjun.
Despite this moment of shine2, Tan Zhongyi lost the match and Ju Wenjun has been on the throne ever since. Revenge time for Tan Zhongyi?
The Tan Zhongyi positions from this article are in Play Like a Champion, and have also been added to a lichess study.
Will The Queen Stay the Queen Again?
Ju Wenjun has her share of tactical masterpieces, but in my view, what’s kept her on the throne for so long—since 2018— is her majestic positional play. Two years ago, when she won her World Championship match against Lei Tingjie, I was awed by her understanding of material imbalances and knight play in the final clutch game. I analyzed it along with some help from my then six-year-old son, in this video excerpt3.
Since then Ju Wenjun scored her highest rated scalp at the 2024 Tata Steel Masters against Alireza Firouzja, who was ranked sixth in the World at the time. Firuozja just played 43…Be4 to prevent Re5. What would you do as White?
The Knight on b4 looks great, but to play off one of the most famous chess phrases of all time, When You See a Good Square, Look for a Better Square. So Ju Wenjun played 44.Na2! and relocated her knight to the iconic c3 square, where it hits e4 and d5.
But my favorite part of that game comes from this position.
It appears that Black should be able to draw in the forcing line 53. Nxe4 dxe4 54. Rxe4 Rxg3+, leading to a long series of trades. Take Take Take Take, am I right? Not so fast. There’s a flaw in that analysis. Can you see it?
Pause for spoiler alert.
Ju Wenjun played 54.Kg2! instead of the premature 54. Rxe4? I rattled off above. Seems exceedingly simple when you see it, but not as easy to calculate in advance.
If only Firouzja’s own king could reach d5 time4. But alas, his e-pawn is lost and so is the game. Normally I think of intermezzos, or in between moves, as something flashy. But in this case, the ice cold defensive intermezzo, 54. Kg2 was the end for the Iranian-French superstar.
A surprise move doesn’t always need to sparkle, it just needs to win.
The match starts April 3 at 3 PM local time in China, 3 AM ET5. May the best Chess Queen win.
1…Qc8!!, threatening Qc1 and Qxh3. On one hand, this is a simple double attack, but it’s also weirdly hard to find: it’s a “creeping” queen move, or a short queen move, that can be hard to find since the queen is capable of such sweeping moves.
Qxg7+! is mate in three after Kxg7 Rxg5+ Kh8 and Rh6#
You can watch the entire 28 minute video, The Queen Stay the Queen on Youtube:
Reminder: you can go through the positions from this article, and my previous chess article on this lichess study.
Check out “On The Queenside’s” World Championship Preview for more on both players’ illustrious careers.
I’m so used to puzzle answers being something flashy — an exchange, a sacrifice, a tactic. Finding quiet moves, such as Kg2 in the final puzzle, will surely level up one’s game.
Super excited for this match. May the best chess queen win!
My prediction: Ju Wenjun retains her title. She's surely on a short list of the greatest female players of all time. Her championship matches have all been close, but that's demonstrated her nerves of steel.