Women’s chess takes centre stage this month. In Shanghai and Chongqing, there is an all-Chinese 12-game match for the women’s world crown between Ju Wenjun, 34, the holder, and Tan Zhongyi, 33, the challenger. The pair are closely matched on ratings (2561 to 2555) and level on head-to-head. The prize money pool is $500,000. Last Thursday’s game one, with Ju playing White in a Sicilian Defence, was a routine draw by threefold repetition in 39 moves.
On YouTube, there is live commentary from 7am BST each day from the all-time No 1, Judit Polgar, and England’s Jovanka Houska.
Ju and Tan are effectively playing a rematch, as Ju won her first world crown in 2017, qualifying to challenge reigning champion Tan and then defeating her in the title series. Next,…
