Lei Tingjie will challenge Ju Wenjun for the title
The Women’s Candidates Final between Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie determined who will challenge the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in July. Both players could enjoy the home field, as the event was in Chongqing, China. The six-game match gave us a lot of fighting chess with decisive games. You can read more about the system of the tournament and the previous matches here: Pool A, Pool B
Tan Zhongyi
Tan Zhongyi is a 31-year-old Chinese grandmaster, and a former Women’s World Champion from 2017, winning the 2017 knockout edition of the world championship, where she defeated Muzychuk Anna in the final.
She is the reigning Women’s World Rapid Champion and won the Chinese Women’s National Championship three times. With a rating of 2526, she is currently in the 8th place of the women’s world ranking. In the previous matches, she won against GM Lagno Kateryna and GM Goryachkina Alexandra.
Lei Tingjie
Lei Tingjie, a 26-year-old grandmaster from China. She is the 2017 Chinese Women’s National Champion and 2021 Women’s Grand Swiss Champion. She has the higher rating of the two challengers. With a 2545 rating, she is currently sixth in the world rankings.
To get to the final, she won against the Muzychuk sister. In the quarter-final, she defeated Mariya and in the semi-final Anna.
The match
In the first game, Tan had the white pieces and won the game after Lei blundered in the middle game pressured by upcoming time trouble. Lei equalised the score right in the next game after Tan made a mistake in a drawish opposite coloured bishop’s endgame.
The third game of the match ended indecisively by a draw, but in the fourth game, Lei took the lead and won the game after gaining an advantage in the middle game. Tan found herself in a must-win situation, as she had the white pieces the last time in the match.
For the last round, Tan chose a rare opening, the Colle-Zukertort system, hoping for a fighting game. Lei Tingjie reacted well, and she had a better position after the opening. Lei put pressure on Tan and formed an attack against the white king. She won the game in style and end the match after five games. She became the challenger of Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun in July. The event will take place in Shanghai, China.
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