Reigning chess world champion Ju Wenjun
Reigning world champion Ju Wenjun and challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina have played out to another draw in the Women’s World Chess Championships in Shanghai.
Playing White, Wenjun, a 1.d4 player, surprised her opponent
with 1.e4. In the ensuing Berlin variation of the Spanish Opening, Aleksandra
Goryachkina (Russia) achieved comfortable play after producing a novelty on
move: 12.c6.
However, black appeared to have gone astray very quickly with 16. Bg5, giving
white an opportunity for dynamic play with 18. g4, which Wenjun chose not to
do, instead exchanging Queens and some pieces.
Perhaps, both players were feeling the impact of yesterday’s marathon 97-move game and were going for simpler, safer options. A quiet draw seemed inevitable and was agreed on at move 40, after three-fold repetition.
Goryachkina’s ability to easily equalize in her first black
game, further cemented her position as a formidable challenger.
After the game, Ju Wenjun felt satisfied with the result, believing that black
came out well after the opening.
The championships will see both players hoping to utwit each other over 12 games. In Shanghai, the duo will face-off in six games from January 5 to 12. The second half of this Championship of another six rounds will be played in Vladivostok, Russia, from January 16 to 23. The tie-break, if needed, will be held on January 24.
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