| Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament (2018) |
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The 2018 FIDE Women's World Championship, held from 3-23 November at the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (with a rest day on 18 November) featured 64 players in a series of knockout matches. Rounds 1-5 had two games each, plus tiebreak games on the third day if necessary. The final (Round 6) was a match of four games plus tiebreak games, with the winner declared Women's World Champion. The semifinalists (except the eventual winner) would qualify for the FIDE Candidates (Women) (2019) tournament. The top seed was Ju Wenjun, the world champion. Prize fund: $450,000, with the winner taking home $60,000. Players received 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added per move from move 1. The tiebreaks consisted of two 25 min + 10-sec increment Rapid games, then if necessary two 10+10 Rapid games, two 5+3 Blitz games (two 5+10 Rapid games in the final), and an Armageddon game where White had 5 minutes to Black's 4, but a draw counted as a win for Black. Chief arbiter: Igor Bolotinsky. On her way to the final, Ju Wenjun beat Kathryn Hardegen in Round 1, Irina Krush in Round 2, Mo Zhai in Round 3, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova in the quarterfinal, and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the semifinal. Her opponent Kateryna Alexandrovna Lagno eliminated Jesse Nikki February in Round 1, Hoang Thanh Trang in Round 2, Natalia Pogonina in Round 3, Tingjie Lei in the quarterfinal and Mariya Muzychuk in the semifinal. The final match started 19 November. After 2-2 in the Classical games and 1-1 in the 25+10 games, Ju Wenjun won both 10+10 tiebreak games and defended her title. Elo Classic Rapid
Ju Wenjun 2561 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 5
Lagno 2556 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 3
Official site: https://web.archive.org/web/2019112...
Regulations: https://web.archive.org/web/2018110...
Mark Weeks: https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/b8...
ChessBase 1: https://en.chessbase.com/post/women...
ChessBase 2: https://en.chessbase.com/post/women...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/ju-...
chess24: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ju...
TWIC: http://theweekinchess.com/chessnews...
FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament...
Wikipedia article: Women's World Chess Championship 2018 (November)Previous: Tan - Ju Women's World Championship Match (2018). Next (in which the challenger had to have won a Candidates tournament): Ju - Goryachkina Women's World Championship (2020)
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| page 2 of 9; games 26-50 of 203 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 26. G Nakhbayeva vs A Galliamova |
| ½-½ | 60 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D47 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
| 27. S Ni vs N Zhukova |
| 0-1 | 56 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C07 French, Tarrasch |
| 28. S Vega Gutierrez vs A Bodnaruk |
 | ½-½ | 42 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | B90 Sicilian, Najdorf |
| 29. T T Hoang vs E Danielian |
| ½-½ | 71 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D05 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 30. M Korneva vs J Zawadzka |
| ½-½ | 53 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation |
| 31. I Krush vs I Gaponenko |
| ½-½ | 45 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | E94 King's Indian, Orthodox |
| 32. N Batsiashvili vs K Arakhamia-Grant |
| 1-0 | 32 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D25 Queen's Gambit Accepted |
| 33. W Ju vs K Hardegen |
| 1-0 | 42 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 34. H Toubal vs Koneru |
| 0-1 | 46 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D02 Queen's Pawn Game |
| 35. Lagno vs J N February |
| 1-0 | 22 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation |
| 36. Kosteniuk vs D Vazquez Maccarini |
| 1-0 | 35 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical |
| 37. M Ouellet vs Goryachkina |
| 0-1 | 69 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System |
| 38. M Muzychuk vs S Wafa |
| 1-0 | 30 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 |
| 39. F Sun vs Z Tan |
| ½-½ | 31 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense |
| 40. V Gunina vs I Aliaga Fernandez |
| ½-½ | 31 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 |
| 41. M Alinasab vs E Paehtz |
| ½-½ | 60 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 42. N Dzagnidze vs Y Miranda Llanes |
| 1-0 | 44 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
| 43. S Khukhashvili vs H Dronavalli |
| ½-½ | 60 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C44 King's Pawn Game |
| 44. A Stefanova vs S Foisor |
| ½-½ | 51 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | A07 King's Indian Attack |
| 45. K Bhakti vs N Pogonina |
| ½-½ | 53 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D31 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 46. Z Abdumalik vs P Rout |
| ½-½ | 76 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense |
| 47. K Arakhamia-Grant vs N Batsiashvili |
| 0-1 | 69 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C00 French Defense |
| 48. O Girya vs M Zhai |
| 0-1 | 38 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | D87 Grunfeld, Exchange |
| 49. C Lujan vs X Zhao |
| 0-1 | 62 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | C50 Giuoco Piano |
| 50. L Javakhishvili vs J Zhu |
| 0-1 | 66 | 2018 | Women's World Championship Knockout Tournament | A80 Dutch |
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| page 2 of 9; games 26-50 of 203 |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 8 OF 9 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Nov-23-18 | | siamesedream: Congratulations to <Ju Wenjun> for defending the title and earn 60.000 USD! https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dsr2Sc5... |
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| Nov-23-18 | | JimNorCal: <alexm>: "Lost a game (against Lagno)? Keep cool and strike back, you outrate the opponent by so much ..." Well, to be fair, 2560s and 2550s are not THAT different ... |
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| Nov-23-18 | | dunkenchess: Our congratulations to GM Ju Wenjun for bagging the World Womens Chess Championship. |
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Nov-23-18
 | | HeMateMe: Ju won both 25 min games. Very strange, the second game, Lagno moved her queen right into a Knight capture by Ju's Knight. The queen was lost, game over. Horrible time pressure? Touch move error? Odd way to lose a game that seemed even. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | Kaspablanca: <alexnagnus> Of course KO is a lottery.If you think Ju is the strongest woman player then why she isnt invited to play in mens tournamens? Hou in championship matches is undefeated, most of your coments are to bash Hou. |
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Nov-23-18
 | | saffuna: I thought Hou just decided not to play. Is that correct? If Federer or Nadal decides not to play a major championship, does that reflect on the person who does play and win? Of course not. |
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Nov-23-18
 | | alexmagnus: Hou didn't play here, and Ju is the strongest who did. And I didn't <bash> Hou. I just said he had no idea hoe to play in KO events and blamed it on format. You know why men's World Cup stopped being won by underdogs after it was rebranded? Because favorites figured out how to handle this format. This is also why Carlsen list early in 2017. It was his first KO participation as a favorite, he didn't have an opportunity to figure it out. |
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Nov-23-18
| | alexmagnus: <he> she |
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| Nov-23-18 | | jith1207: Reading the site after long time, nice narratives formed here and asserted as usual. Congrats to Ju Wenjun. That was a tough field of similar rated opponents this time. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | Whitemouse: <Nov-23-18 HeMateMe: Ju won both 25 min games. Very strange, the second game, Lagno moved her queen right into a Knight> both 10 min 10s games. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | markz: <alexmagnus: Hou didn't play here, and Ju is the strongest who did.
And I didn't <bash> Hou. I just said she had no idea hoe to play in KO events and blamed it on format.> Why women's format is different from men's format? |
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| Nov-23-18 | | qstone: <alexmagnus: She (Hou) had no idea how to play in KO events> Not sure why you think so. Hou played in three KO tournaments, in 2008, as a 14 year old, she went into final, in 2010, she won it. and yes, 2012, she lost to Socko in 2nd round, but that was mainly due to her health (got a bad cold) than her not knowing how to play in KO. She doesn't blame the KO format itself. Her claim is that the Champion should be treated similar to men's. to have a match to defend her title, not to lose the title simply because of a bad cold. |
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Nov-23-18
 | | AylerKupp: <whiteshark> I can hardly wait to see what the proponents of Rapid/Blitz tiebreakers will have to say if either Carlsen or Caruana blunder in an equal position during one of their Blitz games to have their opponent become the WCC. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | nok: <Why women's format is different from men's format?> There is no men's format. <Her claim is that the Champion should be treated similar to men's.> There is no such thing. |
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Nov-23-18
| | saffuna: <Nov-23-18 HeMateMe: Ju won both 25 min games. Very strange, the second game, Lagno moved her queen right into a Knight> The two rapid games were drawn. Ju won both blitz games. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | markz: <nok: <Why women's format is different from men's format?> There is no men's format.> The open format is basically the men's format. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | markz: <saffuna: <Nov-23-18 HeMateMe: Ju won both 25 min games. Very strange, the second game, Lagno moved her queen right into a Knight>
The two rapid games were drawn. Ju won both blitz games> 10+10 games are rapid not blitz |
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Nov-23-18
| | saffuna: OK, sorry. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | sonia91: <Evgeniy Najer: Who said we would have a new champion?> https://ugra2018.fide.com/2018/11/1... On November 13 (10 days ago) the Ugra Chess Academy published an interview with GM Evgeny Najer, who provided commentary in Russian. A few excerpts:
"– What is your impression from overall quality of the games? – I have mixed feelings. Generally, it is not different from other tournaments of similar level. The level of play is solid, the quality of games is quite high. Particularly Ju Wenjun looks like a player without weaknesses. Others are somewhat less consistent with their play. – Is Ju Wenjun the main favorite of the championship then? – Although this is a knock-out event, the question whether we’ll have a new champion is legitimate. Right now I can’t imagine who can beat her or how they’ll do it. She plays very good chess and has excellent nerves. However, she is yet to play some of the main contenders, and nobody knows how their clash may end. – Who is the main favorite for playing Ju Wenjun in the final? – I do not dare predicting it. There are quite a few possible alternatives. – What is the critical factor of success in a knock-out event? – The overall success in knock-out events is largely dependent on how strong is your rapid chess. Yes, good nerves and ability to handle stress are also quite important, but strong rapid chess skill is the key." |
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| Nov-23-18 | | sonia91: This article by ChessBase (https://en.chessbase.com/post/women...) contains a huge and serious mistake. It says: "This was the first time a player defended her title in a knockout tournament." Actually Xie Jun is the first women's world champion to defend her title in a KO tournament, as she won the match against Alisa Galliamova (who also played in the 2018 KO) in 1999 and then won the first KO women's world championship in 2000. The ChessBase authors are pretty clueless, there were serious mistakes also in previous reports on Women's WC... |
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| Nov-23-18 | | Olavi: <sonia91:>
You're correct of course, but they just chose their words poorly. The point was meant to be that it's very unusual / unlikely to win two consecutive KO tournaments. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | nok: <they wrote Tokhirjnova was from Turkmenistan and Abdumalik from Uzbekistan> Outrageous. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | sonia91: <Olavi> After I pointed out the mistake in the comments, they corrected the article. It was not a poor choice of the words, CB was simply clueless, it's not the first time alas. In previous WWC reports they wrote Tokhirjnova was from Turkmenistan and Abdumalik from Uzbekistan... In older articles they wrote the top 14 finisher of the 2018 European Women's Championship qualified for the 2019 KO championhip (!), in 2013 they wrote Petrosian Memorial was held in Tashir instead of Moscow (Tashir was the name of the sponsor!), in 2015 Maria Kursova was the 2013 European women's champion. I sent them countless emails in over 3 years... However, surely it's the first time a women's world champion defends her title in a different format in the same year. Ju is overall the third who manages to win the Women's World Championship in different formats: Xie Jun won the match in 1999 and the KO WWC in 2000, while Hou Yifan first won the KO championship in 2010 and then defended her title in a match in 2011. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | Olavi: <sonia91:>
I'm happy to stand corrected, although I'm not convinced that publishing the correction means they were clueless in this case. Instead of "This was the first time a player defended her title in a knockout tournament." it would have been correct to write something like "This was the first time a player defended her knockout tournament title." Even if that's not the clearest way of putting it. That said, I have sent Chessbase emails about their mistakes only in the crassest cases. The writer Pereira is free lance, but still they should do fact checking. Vlastimil Hort is hopeless. |
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| Nov-23-18 | | sonia91: <This was the first time a player defended her knockout tournament title> Actually Ju won her first world title in a match vs Tan Zhongyi (winner of the 2017 KO) earlier this year. Johannes Fischer and Macauley Peterson (the new editor-in-chief of the English-language version of CB, who previously worked for Chess24) are the ones who amend the articles if someone points out a mistake. That said, ChessBase covered this event more extensively than chess.com and chess24 did. |
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