China Dominates Women's Chess, Sets Sight for Men's

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The battle for chess dominance took place this month in the town Khanty-Mansiysk, in the Russian north. A Chinese grandmaster, Ju Wenjun from China, defended her title beating Kateryna Lagno, a Russian player. The Women's World Championship finished on November 23.

Ju, born in 1991, represents a new generation of Chinese players, both male and female, who grew to dominate chess in the last five years, after the sport became popular in China. Another female chess player, Hou Yifan, a former Champion, is now playing in men's tournaments. Ding Liren (b. 1992), a chess prodigy and number 4 in the world, just broke a record of a 100 games-streak without a loss. Chinese teams also received gold medals in both men's and women's team competitions in the 2018 Chess Olympiad.

Women's World Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious sports events in the calendar. The Tournament was organized under the auspices of the World Chess Federation, or FIDE, the game's governing body and was held in Khanty-Mansiysk – an unofficial chess capital of the world. In the last few years, the city hosted the Candidates Tournament, World Chess Grand Prix events and is set to host the World Cup in 2019 and the Chess Olympiad in 2020 – two biggest events in chess with over 180 countries participating.

Khanty-Mansiysk is becoming one of the most-known Russian cities in China, as Chinese media covers success of the country's chess players. "I am very happy that all of the chess players from different countries are falling in love with our city," said Natalia Komarova, the governor of Ugra Region.

Arkady Dvorkovich, the President of FIDE, said when presenting Ju Wenjun with a Champion's trophy: "On behalf of FIDE, I'd like to congratulate Khanty-Mansiysk for holding the Women's World Championship perfectly. We have reached the final round and I would like to congratulate all of us on this achievement. Also I'd like to thank every participant and I'd like to congratulate Ju Wenjun for defending her title."

The Women's World Championship ran at the same time as the Men's Championship Match that took place in London, where Magnus Carlsen of Norway defended his title against Fabiano Caruana, an American. In their closing remarks, the organizers of the Match said that most likely, the next Challenger to the Men's Championship title will be a Chinese Grandmaster.

SOURCE Women's World Chess Championship