Ju Wenjun

Born: January 31, 1991 | Federation: China | Rating: 2600

Ju Wenjun is the current Women's World Chess Champion. She won this title in May 2018 by defeating her fellow compatriot Tan Zhongyi with score 5,5:4,5. In November 2018, Ju Wenjun defended her title after winning the World Women's Championship. She is also current Women's World Rapid Chess Champion.

Ju Wenjun was born in Shanghai. She grasped the basics of chess at school at the age of 7, but preferred to play against older competitors since she was a child, regularly ignoring junior tournaments. When Ju was 13, she scored second at the Asian women's championship, before winning her national championship and participating in the most prestigious tournaments.

The China star became stronger year by ear. In 2008, she made it to the second round of the women's world championship, before making it to the quarterfinals two years later. At 2012 World Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Wenjun reached the semi-finals, where she lost to future champion Anna Ushenina.

Ju Wenjun has been an international grandmaster since 2014. She also won 2009 and 2011 World Team Championships as well as 2016 and 2018 Olympiads with her country's national team.

In 2017, she won the World Rapid Chess Championship in Saudi Arabia and defended her title one year later in Russia. Having won the FIDE Grand-Prix series, she then won the World Championship Match by defeating her fellow compatriot, Tan Zhongyi with score 5,5:4,5 (May 2018).

Just half a year later, the World Champion had to defend her title in a knockout tournament; Ju Wenjun became the second woman (after Xie Jun) in history to do so. In November 2018, Ju Wenjun won the World Women's Championship, after defeating Russia's Kateryna Lagno on tie-break.

Ju Wenjun graduated from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 2015.