4-time Girls’s World Champion Ju Wenjun received the 2024 Julius Baer Girls’s Velocity Chess Championship after defeating IM Polina Shuvalova within the Closing. The match rating was 12.5-9.5, and Ju received each one of many three segments by some extent.
The Chinese language grandmaster takes dwelling $15,409.09 alongside together with her first WSCC title.
Julius Baer Girls’s Velocity Chess Championship Bracket
SmarterChess claimed 64 % odds for Ju to win the match, appropriately anticipating her to win by three factors, although it anticipated her to earn a two-point lead within the 5+1 portion and a one-point lead within the 1+1. The world champion as soon as participated within the 2020 WSCC however completed in ninth place; this time, her ascent to the highest was unstoppable.
5+1: Shuvalova 3.5-4.5 Ju
Ju obtained off to a fiery begin, however Shuvalova managed to curb the momentum to only a one-point lead within the 5+1—it may have been worse.
The Chinese language grandmaster received the primary two video games off the bat. She really landed a checkmate on the board with the white items within the first sport. In sport two, she provoked her opponent to sacrifice a bit and, later, exploited the weak darkish squares of the enemy camp.
Shuvalova received her first sport on time within the subsequent sport, in an endgame the place she was a bit up however one which the pc identified was equal. After which she evened the rating when Ju blundered a full rook within the subsequent sport, as 34.Qc2?? bxc4 defended the black queen.
Ju’s fundamental weak spot all through the match was shedding management of positions, even profitable ones, when she obtained right down to about 10 seconds—although this did not occur sufficient occasions for Shuvalova to dig her approach again in.
Ju received the sport that adopted to complete with a one-point lead, and two attracts after that accomplished the section. The transfer 33…Nb3 was a dagger that pressured speedy resignation.
33…Nb3!, destabilizing the white rook, brings Ju Wenjun again into the lead! 3.5-2.5.https://t.co/DeGZxttQ32#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/uvzvhfR4x8
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 5, 2024
3+1: Shuvalova 3-4 Ju
The very first sport of this section is the Recreation of the Day. It began as a strong Queen’s Gambit Declined, the place Shuvalova equalized comfortably. Nevertheless, when Black declined the threefold repetition with 28…Qb7?, Ju executed the benefit completely. GM Dejan Bojkov unpacks the motion within the annotations under.
Shuvalova was urgent within the queen endgame that adopted however misplaced on time, after which obtained regularly outplayed within the subsequent, sinking to a four-point deficit. GM Benjamin Bok noticed at this level, “When you consider Ju Wenjun on this occasion, one phrase that involves thoughts is dominance. She has received each match with an enormous, huge margin.”
When you consider Ju Wenjun on this occasion, one phrase that involves thoughts is dominance.
—Benjamin Bok
However, as if in an try and show him incorrect, Shuvalova received three out of the final 4 video games, slicing the deficit down to 2. In two of these victories, Ju was a lot better or profitable however had a meltdown when going below 10 seconds, the worst instance being the final sport the place she went from being a transparent pawn as much as blundering her complete kingside.
1+1: Shuvalova 3-4 Ju
After shedding the primary two video games, Shuvalova managed to chop the lead as soon as once more down two factors, however within the last minutes of the bullet portion, she was unable to place a bigger dent than that within the lead.
Ju received the primary two video games of the section, however there was a minor disaster when Shuvalova retorted with two wins of her personal, gaining momentum. The smothered checkmate within the first of these two video games was a reasonably one:
Then Ju misplaced on time in a profitable place.
If Shuvalova had managed to win another, we’d have talked a couple of comeback, however the world champion took management and ended the match favorably. She received the following two video games to clinch the match, even when she misplaced the ultimate one.
Her assault with the black items in an Alternate French was vicious.
Regardless of shedding management at a couple of moments in time hassle, Ju emerged victorious in all three segments of the match. Shuvalova finishes in second with $2,590.01.
Complete Earnings
Ju, who stated she will probably be going to “some good restaurant with buddies” to have a good time, gave some good chess recommendation that gamers of all ranges may use: “I assume I simply attempt to put together some however not an excessive amount of. The necessary factor is to maintain the thoughts clear and never simply blunder.”
The necessary factor is to maintain the thoughts clear and never simply blunder.
—Ju Wenjun
The Julius Baer Girls’s Velocity Chess Championship is a Chess.com occasion the place a few of the strongest feminine chess gamers on the planet battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The principle occasion sees 16 gamers compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches performed at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls. 4 locations go to the winners of 4 Play-ins held on August 12-16 and open to all feminine titled gamers. In every Play-in the highest 4 gamers in a Swiss qualify to compete in a knockout.
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