Ju Wenjun vs. Tan Zhongyi, game 5 Opening: A rare case of a common line
Game 5 of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship is, for the third time, a Sicilian with 2. …e6. Today though, the players moved quickly into a more traditional setup, and there is nothing resembling a surprise through eight moves — unless that is itself a surprise.
Ju Wenjun, as White, has taken some time as the game enters a Maroczy Bind structure with c4. The top game from the position is Yu-Sethuraman, 2018, which included the isolated queen pawn for Black that has featured in this match. Tan Zhongyi is waiting comfortably for the ninth move with more than her starting time on the clock.
The first 8 moves of game 5 are given below. Follow the game live on Lichess, or on stream with commentary by IMs Jovanka Houska and Irene Sukandar.
