FIDE Women’s World Championship Match 2023 starts in China

The 2023 FIDE Women’s World Championship Match opened yesterday in Shanghai, China and will be played from 4-24 July in two cities: Shanghai and Chongquing. The match is played between Ju Wenjun, the defending Champion, and Lei Tingjie, the Challenger.

The match will be played in 12 rounds, and the first player to reach 6.5 points will be crowned as the 2023 FIDE Women’s World Chess Champion. The time control for each game is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. The event prize fund is €500,000, with €300,000 going to the winner and the remaining €200,000 to the runner-up.

The opening ceremony of the event took place yesterday with the ceremony of colour drawing. Lei Tingjie got to choose the box, picking the one with the white queen, which signified that she would begin the match with white pieces.

The opening ceremony was preceded by a press conference with Ju Wenjun, Lei Tingjie, Tian Hongwei – General Secretary of the Chinese Chess Association, Dana Reizniece-Ozola – Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board and the supervisor of the appeals committee for the match, and officials from the hosting cities.

The first round starts on Wednesday, July 5th, at 15:00 (local time). Live broadcast of the event can be followed through the official website.