On November 23rd, SUFE alumna, Ju Wenjun, Class of the 2011, School of Public Economy and Administration, won the championship in the Women's World Chess Championship for 2018. 2018 was a special year where two World Championships were held in – the first of the 10 match chellenge variety in May that Ju Wenjun defeated 2017 champion and SUFE alumna Tan Zhangyi and the second a 64 competitor tournament. The reason there were two tournaments is that from now on all championships will be in the match challenge style like last May’s even and the organizers wanted to get on a consistent schedule. This is also the second consecutive championship won by SUFE alumna, after Tan Zhongyi in 2017.
In the first rapid game Ju Wenjun had white. It was a relatively peaceful game and the Queen’s Gambit was accepted. Black managed to equalize, and the game logically ended in a draw. In the next 25-minute game the players both went for the Catalan Opening. Once again they were reluctant to take risks. The game ended undramatically in an endgame with opposite-colored bishops and an extra pawn to white.
Kateryna Lagno had white in the first 10-minute game. The position was balanced for a while, but in a minor piece ending Ju Wenjun utilized the opponent’s error, won a pawn and gradually converted her material advantage. .In the second blitz game Lagno tried to create a rapid fire game inorder to fluster Ju Wenjun, but Ju remained fully in control. While inn an equal position Lagno blundered a queen and lost.
The final score was 5-3 in favor of Ju Wenjun, who successfully defended her title in a knock-out World Championship 64 person tournament.This victory made Ju Wenjun very unique due to the unusual schedule she is the first player to win two world chess championships in one year in chess history.
It is worth mentioning that the winner of the last World Champion was SUFE alumna Tan Zhongyi , Class of 2009, from the School of Law. In this year's women's May 10 match head to head world championship, Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi met in Shanghai After 10 chess marathons, Ju Wenjun won 5.5:4.5 and took the title of the world chess champion from Tan Zhongyi to win the championship for the first time.
Chess, board, and card games are traditional club and team activities for SUFE. Early in 1978, when The Shanghai College of Finance and Economics resumed classes, Mr. Yao Nai, the first president, strongly advocated the school to carry out Go practices. SUFE Chess and Card Team is composed of four teams: chess, Go, Chinese Chess and Bridge. It was founded in 1986 and approved by the Ministry of Education as a high-level sports team construction project in 2005. At present, the SUFE Chess team and Go team have reached the first-class level in the world and had developed many world champions, national champions, and top ranked competitors.
Ju Wenjun brief biography:
Born in Shanghai in 1991. At the age of 7, she began to learn chess. At the age of 12, she won the runner-up trophy in the Li Chengzhi Cup. At the age of 13, she was selected as a national team member and won the third prize at the Asian Championship in the same year. She competed for the Chess Olympiad 5 times and the national team for the World Championship 4 times. At the end of 2016, she won the championship in the Women's Chess Grand Prix, and also qualified for the Women's World Chess Championship.
