Women's World Chess Championship 2020
The 2020 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by Ju Wenjun and her challenger, Aleksandra Goryachkina, the winner of a newly established Candidates Tournament that was held in 2019.
The classical time-control portion of the match ended with a tied score of 6-6, after 3 victories of Ju, 3 victories of Goryachkina, and 6 draws. On 24 January, 4 games of rapid chess were used as a tie-breaker; and Ju Wenjun retained the title with 1 win and 3 draws.
The match was planned in two parts, one held in Shanghai and one in Vladivostok, from 3 to 24 January 2020. It marked the return to a match only format for the title with qualifying Candidates Tournament, after new FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich had expressed his dissatisfaction with the knock-out tournaments and resulting frequently changing world champions.
Candidates Tournament
The newly established candidates tournament started 29 May 2019 in Kazan, Russia. The format was an eight player double round-robin tournament.Three players qualified by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the last championship. One spot would have been reserved for Ju Wenjun as 2018 World Championship match winner. All remaining players came from the rating list, by taking the average of all twelve monthly ratings in 2018. Aleksandra Goryachkina replaced Hou Yifan, who declined an invitation.
Qualifiers
Goryachkina won with two rounds to spare.Crosstable
Leading player after each round in green.Championship match
As in 2018, the match was divided into two parts, hosted by the countries of the players. One stage was held in Shanghai, China and the other in Vladivostok, Russia. In Shanghai the match was played in the InterContinental Shanghai Jing'An Hotel, in Vladivostok at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island. The format was increased to twelve games, the last championships consisted of only 10 scheduled games.Schedule
Match started off in Shanghai and ended in Vladivostok.| Shanghai | 4 Jan | Opening ceremony |
| Shanghai | 5–6 Jan | Games 1–2 |
| Shanghai | 8–9 Jan | Games 3–4 |
| Shanghai | 11–12 Jan | Games 5–6 |
| Vladivostok | 15 Jan | Opening ceremony |
| Vladivostok | 16–17 Jan | Games 7–8 |
| Vladivostok | 19–20 Jan | Games 9–10 |
| Vladivostok | 22–23 Jan | Games 11–12 |
| Vladivostok | 24 Jan | Tiebreak games and closing ceremony |