Ju Wenjun (; born 31 January 1991) is a Chinese

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. She is the reigning five-time Women's World Champion, the reigning Women's World Blitz Chess Champion, and a two-time Women's World Rapid Chess Champion. In March 2017, she became the fifth woman to achieve a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...). Rating or rating system may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...

of 2600. She first won the title of Women's World Chess Champion in May 2018. She then defended her title in November 2018,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, and

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Career

Ju started learning to play chess at the age of seven. In December 2004, Ju Wenjun placed third in the Asian Women's Chess Championship in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. This result qualified her to play in her first

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. She competed in this event also in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. She won the Women's Chinese Chess Championship in 2010 and 2014. In July 2011 she won the

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Women Grandmaster Chess Tournament undefeated with a score of 6½/9 points, ahead of the then women's world champion Hou Yifan. In October 2011 she took the second place at the

Nalchik Nalchik (, ; ; ) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of ...

stage of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12 with 7/11, ranked only after her compatriot Zhao Xue; her performance was enough to acquire her third and final

norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

required for the Grandmaster title. However, one of the three norms was missing the signature of the arbiter, disqualifying her for consideration for the title. From June 18 to July 2, 2014, in the 5th stage of the

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The winner of the Grand Prix was decided in the last stag ...

held in Lopota Resort, Georgia she finished jointly second with Elina Danielian and a 7/11 score. This marks her fourth GM norm. In the 6th stage of the

held in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

, United Arab Emirates, from August 24 to September 7, 2014 she placed joint first with Hou Yifan with a score of 8½/11, winning the event thanks to a better tiebreak score. In November 2014,

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

awarded her the GM title in the 4th quarter Presidential Board meeting in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia. With six GM norms, including three norms from the Women's Grand Prix (1 from each series), she is now a fully fledged grandmaster, China's 31st grandmaster and the 31st woman to hold the title. Also in 2014, she tied for first with

Lei Tingjie Lei Tingjie (, born 3 March 1997) is a Chinese chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster. She was the 2021 Women's Grand Swiss champion, the 2017 Chinese women's national champion and the 2022–23 Women's Candidates winner. Lei earne ...

in the 4th China Women Masters Tournament in

Wuxi Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...

. In December 2017, Ju won the Women's

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, and won in the same championship held in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in December 2018, scoring 11½/15 (+8=7) and 10/12 (+8=4), respectively. Ju earned the biggest win of her career in the fifth round of the

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 was the 86th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, annual chess tournament held in Wijk aan Zee from 13–28 January 2024. The competition followed a similar format to Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023, ...

, defeating then world number 6 Alireza Firouzja. She also drew World Champion

Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...

in the final round, and eventually finished the tournament in 10th with 4½/13 (+1−5=7), gaining 9.7 rating points. In December 2024 she won the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship.

FIDE championship

Ju Wenjun won FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16. This qualified her for a match for the Women's World Chess Championship 2017 against incumbent champion Tan Zhongyi. Ju won the match with a score of 5½–4½ in May 2018, becoming the Women's World Chess Champion. The next Women's World Chess Championship was decided by a 64-player knockout tournament. Ju won the tournament, which was held in November 2018, retaining her title. Since then, she has defended her title in matches three times: first against Aleksandra Goryachkina in the Women's World Chess Championship 2020 (6–6; 2½–1½ in tiebreaks), then against

in the Women's World Chess Championship 2023 (6½–5½), and most recently in the Women's World Chess Championship 2025 (6½–2½) against Tan Zhongyi.

Team events

Ju Wenjun has played for the Chinese national women's team since 2008. Her team has won the gold medal in the

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad (; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this section is open to all pl ...

in 2016, Women's World Team Chess Championship in 2009 and 2011, Women's Asian Nations Chess Cup in 2012, 2014 and 2016, gold medal in the Olympiad at 2018, and

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

. In 2013, she won the silver medal with team Shanghai in the Asian Cities Chess Championship in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. She plays for the Shanghai

chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs play over the board and face to face chess a ...

in the China Chess League (CCL).

Personal life

Ju graduated from

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics The Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) is a public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, finance and economics university located in Shanghai, China. The university is affiliated with the ...

in 2015.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ju, Wenjun 1991 births Living people Chinese female chess players Chess Grandmasters Female chess grandmasters Chess players from Shanghai Women's world chess champions Chess Olympiad competitors Asian Games medalists in chess Asian Games gold medalists for China Chess players at the 2010 Asian Games 21st-century Chinese chess players Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in chess FISU World University Games gold medalists for China FISU World University Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Shanghai University of Finance and Economics alumni Chess Woman Grandmasters