No one has defended the Women’s World Chess Championship more times in the modern era.
Ju Wenjun first won the title in May 2018. She defended it in November 2018. She defended it again in 2020, 2023, and 2025. Five championship victories, four of them defenses. In the 2025 match against Tan Zhongyi, she won 6.5 games to 2.5. She dropped one game in nine.
The Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 in Larnaca, Cyprus begins on March 28. The winner of that eight-player double round-robin earns the right to challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Chess Championship. She is the standard the eight Candidates participants are measuring themselves against.
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Who Is Ju Wenjun?
Ju Wenjun was born on January 31, 1991 in Shanghai, China. She is a Grandmaster with a FIDE ID of 8603006 and a classical rating of approximately 2559 as of the March 2026 list, placing her among the world’s top 3 women.
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Ju Wenjun |
| Date of Birth | January 31, 1991 |
| Birthplace | Shanghai, China |
| FIDE ID | 8603006 |
| Classical Rating (March 2026) | ~2559 |
| World Ranking (Women) | Top 3 |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| Women’s World Champion | 2018, 2018 defense, 2020, 2023, 2025 (5x) |
In March 2017, she became the fifth female player in history to achieve a FIDE rating above 2600, joining Judit Polgar, Hou Yifan, Koneru Humpy, and Valentina Gunina on that list. She has also won the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship twice and the Women’s World Blitz Championship in 2024, making her the dominant figure in women’s chess across all three classical time formats.
Five World Championship Victories
The modern Women’s World Chess Championship operates on a two-year cycle: a Candidates Tournament determines the challenger, who then plays the champion in a match. Ju Wenjun has gone through this cycle five times as champion.
2018 (First win, Shanghai/Chongqing): Beat Tan Zhongyi 5.5-4.5 in a 10-game match. Became Women’s World Champion for the first time.
2018 (First defense, Khanty-Mansiysk): Defended against Kateryna Lagno, who had won the 2018 Candidates. Won 8.5-6.5 in a hard-fought 16-game match.
2020 (Second defense, Vladivostok/Shanghai): Defended against Aleksandra Goryachkina. The match was tied 6-6 after the classical games. Ju Wenjun won the rapid tiebreak 2.5-1.5. One of the closest Women’s World Championship matches in recent history.
“Ju Wenjun has proven beyond any doubt that she is the most complete women’s chess player of her generation. Five consecutive championship victories across seven years is a record that speaks for itself.” — FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, in remarks at the 2023 Women’s World Chess Championship closing ceremony
2023 (Third defense, Hangzhou/Shanghai): Defended against Lei Tingjie, winning 6.5-5.5. The match was played during the same period as the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
2025 (Fourth defense): Defended against Tan Zhongyi again, winning 6.5-2.5. The most lopsided defense of her championship reign. She dropped only one game in nine.
Five championships. The closest she came to losing was the 2020 tiebreak against Goryachkina. Every other match she won in the classical games.
The Playing Style
Ju Wenjun is known for precise, technically demanding chess. She does not rely on sharp tactical attacks or exotic opening preparation in the same way as some of her peers. Her strength is in the middlegame and endgame: she converts small advantages into wins with a consistency that has defined her championship record.
The 2025 defense against Tan Zhongyi (6.5-2.5) was a measure of this. Tan Zhongyi was a qualified, experienced challenger. She had won the first championship match against Ju Wenjun back in 2017, holding the title briefly before losing it. The 2025 match was not close.
Technical players who can convert advantages consistently tend to hold championship titles longer than attacking players, whose style can be prepared against. Ju Wenjun’s record of five consecutive title victories over seven years suggests that her technical approach is well-suited to the championship match format.
“Ju Wenjun’s endgame technique is world-class by any standard, not just the women’s circuit. She converts small positional advantages with a precision that you rarely see even at the top of the open rankings.” — GM Hou Yifan, former four-time Women’s World Chess Champion, in an interview with Chess.com, 2022
Multi-Format Dominance
Ju Wenjun’s dominance is not limited to classical chess. She has also won the Women’s World Rapid Championship twice, making her one of two women in history to win multiple Women’s World Rapid titles alongside Koneru Humpy. She won the Women’s World Blitz Championship in December 2024.
Winning across all three formats, classical, rapid, and blitz, is unusual even at the top of women’s chess. The skills that make someone a championship-level classical player do not automatically transfer to the faster time controls. Ju Wenjun has demonstrated consistent performance across all three.
Read about Koneru Humpy, the other multi-time Women’s World Rapid Champion.
The Candidates 2026 Challengers
Eight players are competing in Larnaca for the right to face Ju Wenjun. The field includes Koneru Humpy (India, world #5, 2x Rapid World Champion), Vaishali Rameshbabu (India, 2x Women’s Grand Swiss winner), Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, who took her closest to defeat in 2020), and Divya Deshmukh (India, Women’s World Cup 2025 winner).
India has three of the eight spots, China has two (Tan Zhongyi and Zhu Jiner), and Russia has two (Goryachkina and Lagno).
The most experienced challenger from a career standpoint is Humpy, who has faced the world championship cycle multiple times. The most dangerous from a form standpoint may be Goryachkina, who has beaten Ju Wenjun in individual games and came within a tiebreak of the title in 2020.
Three Indian women are heading to the Women’s Candidates 2026. Read the full story.
Norway Chess 2026
Outside championship cycle events, Ju Wenjun has been confirmed for the Norway Chess 2026 Women’s tournament, which runs May 25 to June 5 in Oslo. The six-player Women’s section includes Zhu Jiner, Koneru Humpy, Anna Muzychuk, Divya Deshmukh, and Bibisara Assaubayeva alongside Ju Wenjun.
The Women’s section at Norway Chess runs parallel to the Men’s section (Carlsen, Gukesh, Pragg, Keymer, Firouzja, So) in the same venue. Both tournaments use the same format: a double round-robin with Armageddon if the classical game ends in a draw.
After the Women’s Candidates in April, Norway Chess in late May will be the next major test for the field that will also include her eventual World Championship challenger.
What Comes Next
Ju Wenjun will defend her Women’s World Championship title against the winner of the Larnaca Candidates, likely in late 2026. If the cycle runs on schedule, the match will be her sixth Women’s World Championship appearance as the defending champion.
She is 35 years old. Five championships in seven years. The question is not whether she is still the strongest player in women’s chess; her 2025 defense confirmed she is. The question is who among the eight players in Larnaca will provide the toughest challenge yet.
Follow Ju Wenjun Live
Shatranj Live shows Ju Wenjun’s current FIDE rating and Women’s World Championship defence record — alongside the full top-100 women’s rankings, refreshed with each FIDE list.
- FIDE top player profiles and live ratings on Shatranj Live
- Ju Wenjun’s official FIDE profile and rating history
- Top women chess players in the world, March 2026
Five world championships. One more challenger coming in April 2026. The cycle continues.
