The 2025 FIDE Women`s World Chess Championship is the final event of the FIDE Women’s World Championship Cycle 2023-2025. Chess fans are eagerly awaiting a repeat match between two prominent grandmasters from China: the current Champion, Ju Wenjun, and the Challenger, Tan Zhongyi. The Women`s World Chess Champion title will be determined over 12 games, with a tie-break if needed.
The championship match is scheduled from April 1st to 23rd, 2025, and will be held across two Chinese cities, Shanghai and Chongqing.
The time control for each game is set at 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move one.
In Shanghai, the first stage will take place at the Shanghai Chess Academy. The second stage in Chongqing will be hosted at the Fuling District Library.
The Contenders
Ju Wenjun
Photo: Stev Bonhage
Born in Shanghai, Ju Wenjun began her chess journey at the age of seven, achieving early success. In 2004, at just 13 years old, she secured a silver medal at the Asian Women`s Chess Championship and earned a spot in her first Women`s World Championship. Despite being among the lowest-rated players, she reached an impressive third round.
Ju Wenjun has twice won the Women`s Chinese Chess Championship, in 2010 and 2014, and in the same year, she was awarded the prestigious grandmaster title. By then, she had firmly established herself as a leading female chess player globally. Consistently ranked #5 in the women`s world rankings for most of 2015, she was a favorite in the FIDE Women`s Grand Prix 2015–16 series. She lived up to expectations, winning two of the five tournaments and qualifying for the World Championship Match against her fellow countrywoman Tan Zhongyi, the 2017 knockout championship winner.
Ju Wenjun`s impressive ascent continued as she became only the fifth woman to surpass the 2600 rating mark, achieving a peak rating of 2604 in March 2017. A year later, in her seventh attempt at the Women`s World Championship, she defeated Tan Zhongyi with a score of 5½-4½ to claim the title of Women`s World Chess Champion. This match was also held across two cities, with the first half in Shanghai and the latter in Chongqing.
Ju has successfully defended her title three times since her initial victory. In 2018, she entered a 64-player knockout tournament as the top seed, winning every round before the final without needing tiebreaks. In the final, she overcame Kateryna Lagno in a tiebreak after a dramatic comeback in the last classical game while playing with black pieces.
In 2020, she faced GM Aleksandra Goryachkina in a match that concluded with a 6-6 draw in classical games. Ju secured her title by winning the third game of a rapid tiebreak. Most recently, in 2023, Ju Wenjun successfully defended her title against Lei Tingjie, clinching the match victory by winning the twelfth and final game.
Just as in her first championship-winning match, Ju Wenjun is again set to compete against Tan Zhongyi in a competition that will once again be split between Shanghai and Chongqing. Their 2018 encounter was filled with excitement, featuring five consecutive wins in games 2-6. Spectators anticipate similar drama this time, as memories and comparisons to their previous match are unavoidable. However, unlike in 2018, Ju Wenjun will now be defending her title against a determined challenger eager to regain her crown.
Elton Marrow