Ju Wenjun Wins With 10-Point Margin, Nearly Goes Undefeated
Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun of China scored a dominating 13-3 win over IM Anna Sargsyan of Armenia in the first of the round of 16 matches of the 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship. Though Sargsyan had her chances in the match, it was Ju's defensive technique and quick play that enabled her to save many difficult positions, finally triumphing with a huge 10-point margin.
The next two Round of 16 matches will be on Friday, August 23. GM Tan Zhongyi vs. IM Polina Shuvalova begins at 7.00 a.m. ET / 13.00 CEST / 4.30 p.m. IST, and GM Kateryna Lagno vs. WIM Alua Numan at 9.30 a.m. ET / 15.30 CEST / 7.00 p.m. IST.
Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship Bracket
Ju Wenjun 13-3 Anna Sargsyan
Curiously, the contestants were playing the match from hugely different time zones. Ju is currently in Hong Kong, playing in the Asian Rapid Chess Team Championship 2024, representing the colorfully named Shanghai Chess and Card Sports Management Center on the top board. After defeating GM Susanto Magaranto in the fourth round in Hong Kong just an hour before, Ju logged in to effect a short work on Sargsyan by 10:00 p.m. local time, ending the match after midnight.
In contrast, Sargsyan is a student of Webster University based in St. Louis, U.S., and hence started her match at 9.00 a.m., ending it before noon.
But any tiredness of staying up late wasn't visible in Ju's play, as she dominated the match in all the segments, and won with huge margin.
Commentator WGM Jennifer Shahade was full of praise for Ju's consistent play, "She is giving out those Hikaru vibes, where it doesn't matter if you are winning. She is gonna keep playing, and... good luck winning in three minutes—it is not easy."
She is giving out those Hikaru vibes.
—Jennifer Shahade
Blitz 5+1: Ju 5-1 Sargsyan
The first few games of this segment were clear indicators of the flow of the match. In the first game, Ju scored a smooth victory with white pieces, almost as if there was no opposition to the onslaught of her pieces.
Sargsyan seemed to be on the verge of a return win in the very next game after Ju came up with a dubious piece sacrifice right out of the opening stages.
The third game was another stroke of fortune for Ju, as Sargsyan overstepped the time in a near-equal position. The fourth game seemed to be the most significant indicator of things to come.
Losing a game in just 15 moves with white pieces must have been a huge psychological setback for Sargsyan, and she never really recovered from this mishap.
Sargsyan did have her chances in the rest of the match, but she didn't utilize them well.
The final game of the segment was Sargsyan's best chance to score her first win, but it ended unfortunately for her.
Blitz 3+1: Ju 4.5-0.5 Sargsyan
When Sargsyan lost the second game of the segment through another unfortunate time loss, she seemed to have already lost the match in her mind.
Anna Sargsyan nearly got her first win, but with an extra piece she lost on time! It's 7-1 for Ju Wenjun.https://t.co/dBLp9LngsT#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/1RB6X307aH
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 22, 2024
Bullet 1+1: Ju 3.5-1.5 Sargsyan
Being the shortest of the time control did not help the Sargsyan to turn the tide, as the second game of the segment clearly indicated.
White played 9.Qb3?? in the position below, after which 9...Na5 forced her to give up the piece on c4. Though she played for another 30-odd moves, the result was never in doubt.
Sargsyan's only win of the match came at the end, in the last game of the segment.
A highly efficient game by Sargsyan, demonstrating that she would have had much better chances in the match if she had converted many chances that came her way at the beginning of the match.
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on Twitch and YouTube. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by WGM Jen Shahade and GM Benjamin Bok.
The Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls. Four places go to the winners of four Play-ins held on August 12-16 and open to all female titled players. In each Play-in the top four players in a Swiss qualify to compete in a knockout.
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