Ju Wenjun vs. Tan Zhongyi, game 7 Opening: Can the trailing player make up ground?
As we cross the halfway mark of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, defending champion Ju Wenjun has a two point lead on challenger Tan Zhongyi. Down 4-2, Zhongyi went back to the Sicilian with the black pieces, though she deviated from the earlier 2. …e6’s and played more classically with 2. …Nc6. Wenjun went for the Rossolimo Sicilian, 3. Bb5, and the players followed preferred moves from the database for a dozen moves.
Finally, on move 14, White deviated from nine master games, including Caruana-Lenic, 2018, with 14. Qh5 instead of 14. g3. It seems a touch inaccurate, and gave Black a slight chance to drive the play. The second player had a very strong game going, but as it approached the time control, it started to slip away, most notably on move 36, Bc5! traded dark square bishops and the remaining material was distinctly in White’s favour. As we stand live just after move 40, Wenjun is completely winning once again, with a superb knight against a very depressing bishop.
The first 14 moves of game 7 are given below. Follow the game live on Lichess, or on stream with commentary by IMs Jovanka Houska and Irene Sukandar.
