I will go to Iran as a chess player and just play chess!
Ju Wenjun won the tournament in Khanty Mansiysk and with it the overall women's Grand Prix as well. This gave her the right to challenge the World Championship winner in Tehran 2017. ChessBase India's Niklesh Jain got in touch with the women's world number two and asked her questions not only about her Grand Prix victory, but also about the hijab controversy, Hou Yifan's decision of pulling out and her personal ambitions in chess.
Interview with World Championship Challenger Ju Wenjun
Niklesh Jain: Ju Wenjun, Congratulations for this big win! You are now a World Championship Challenger. How does it feel? And what does it mean to you?
Ju Wenjun: Thank you! I feel pretty good. It is a remarkable result. One step closer to my dream and no doubt I will fight for becoming the World Champion.
How tough was the Khanty Mansiysk Women’s Grand Prix?
So far the toughest tournament in my career. I was stressed, especially in first six games. I even could not remember the line I had just prepared in the morning before the game. I was back to normal in my last five games. I did what I like doing the best - just play for pleasure.
Final Standings
Rank | Name | IRtg | FED | Pts | Prize | GP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GM | Ju Wenjun | 2580 | CHN | 7½ | 10000 | 160 |
2 | IM | Batsiashvili Nino | 2489 | GEO | 6½ | 8250 | 130 |
3 | GM | Gunina Valentina | 2525 | RUS | 6 | 5250 | 82 |
IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 2435 | IRI | 6 | 5250 | 82 | |
GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2543 | IND | 6 | 5250 | 82 | |
WGM | Girya Olga | 2450 | RUS | 6 | 5250 | 82 | |
GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra | 2555 | RUS | 6 | 5250 | 82 | |
8 | GM | Zhukova Natalia | 2448 | UKR | 5½ | 4000 | 50 |
9 | GM | Khotenashvili Bela | 2426 | GEO | 5 | 3250 | 40 |
10 | WGM | Pogonina Natalija | 2492 | RUS | 4½ | 2875 | 25 |
IM | Javakhishvili Lela | 2461 | GEO | 4½ | 2875 | 25 | |
12 | IM | Skripchenko Almira | 2455 | FRA | 2½ | 2500 | 10 |
How did you approach this tournament? On one hand getting 90 points was enough to surpass Humpy Koneru in the Grand Prix standings, but on the other there were players like Gunina, Kosteniuk, Harika who could have won the Khanty Mansiysk Grand Prix and taken the top spot.
There were many possibilities. Many players had a chance to win the Grand Prix. I managed to score 7.0/11, that's +3, which was a good result. It was not easy, but the good thing is that I didn't need to fight too hard.
Grand Prix standings
Rank | Player | Rating | Monte Carlo | Tehran | Batumi | Chengdu | Khanty-Mansiysk | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ju Wenjun (China) | 2580 | 160,0 | 93,3 | 160,0 | 413,3 | ||
2 | Koneru Humpy (India) | 2557 | 120,0 | 70,0 | 145,0 | 335,0 | ||
3 | Valentina Gunina (Russia) | 2525 | 45,0 | 160,0 | 82,0 | 287,0 | ||
4 | Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) | 2555 | 65,0 | 130,0 | 82,0 | 277,0 | ||
5 | Dronavalli Harika (India) | 2543 | 45,0 | 145,0 | 82,0 | 272,0 | ||
6 | Zhao Xue (China) | 2508 | 120,0 | 70,0 | 60,0 | 250,0 | ||
7 | Nino Batsiashvili (Georgia) | 2489 | 15,0 | 100,0 | 130,0 | 245,0 | ||
8 | Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) | 2561 | 30,0 | 100,0 | 93,3 | 223,3 | ||
9 | Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) | 2532 | 120,0 | 40,0 | 60,0 | 220,0 | ||
10 | Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran) | 2435 | 10,0 | 120,0 | 82,0 | 212,0 | ||
11 | Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) | 2507 | 50,0 | 85,0 | 70,0 | 205,0 | ||
12 | Natalia Pogonina (Russia) | 2492 | 85,0 | 85,0 | 25,0 | 195,0 | ||
13 | Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) | 2512 | 65,0 | 15,0 | 93,3 | 173,3 | ||
14 | Hou Yifan (China) | 2635 | 160,0 | 160,0 | ||||
15 | Olga Girya (Russia) | 2450 | 40,0 | 35,0 | 82,0 | 157,0 | ||
16 | Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine) | 2448 | 30,0 | 60,0 | 50,0 | 140,0 | ||
17 | Pia Cramling (Sweden) | 2461 | 85,0 | 30,0 | 10,0 | 125,0 | ||
18 | Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia) | 2426 | 10,0 | 60,0 | 40,0 | 110,0 | ||
19 | Almira Skripchenko (France) | 2455 | 30,0 | 70,0 | 10,0 | 110,0 | ||
20 | Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia) | 2461 | 40,0 | 35,0 | 25,0 | 100,0 | ||
21 | Elina Danielian (Armenia) | 2444 | 20,0 | 20,0 | ||||
22 | Tan Zhongyi (China) | 2492 | 20,0 | 20,0 | ||||
850 | 850 | 850 | 850 | 850 |
You drew the first round against Zhukova and then won against Javakhishvili. With 1.5/2, you slowed down a bit and made three draws. And then you lost the crucial sixth round against Alexandra Kosteniuk. What was going on in your mind at that point? How did you fight back?
After I lost to Kosteniuk I was back to 50%. If I wanted to win I had to score four points out of the remaining five games. That's a very difficult task to achieve, especially because I hadn't played well in the first six games. After the loss I was quite upset. One of my friend suggested me to watch a comedy movie. I watched it and felt quite relaxed. Next day I prepared as usual and luckily won the game!
Yes, you won your next game against Valentina Gunina in style. Did you know that you were following the game Swinkels against Sasikiran?
Well, I know Sasikiran played it. I didn't prepare this before the game. When Valentina played this line, I was surprised, but did not fear it. I believe that if White plays well, it is Black who has to fight for a draw.
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2016.11.26"]
[Round "7.6"]
[White "Ju, Wenjun"]
[Black "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E00"]
[WhiteElo "2580"]
[BlackElo "2525"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2016.11.19"]
Qc2 c6 9. Rd1 b6 10. Bf4 Ba6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 (13... Nd7
14. e4 Rc8 15. Nc3 d4 16. Rxd4 Qc7 $14 {gives Black a playable position.}) 14.
h3 Nxf2 $6 (14... Nh6 15. Bxh6 gxh6 16. Nc3 $14 {is already pretty depressing.}
) 15. Kxf2 Bc5+ 16. Be3 Bxe3+ 17. Kxe3 {The king is out there in the open but
Black lacks pieces to attack him.} Rc8 (17... f6 18. Kf2 fxe5+ 19. Kg1 Qg5 20.
Kh2 h5 21. h4 Qg4 22. Nc3 Rac8 23. Rf1 b5 24. Bh3 Qd4 25. Bxe6+ Kh8 26. Qg6 {
1-0 (26) Swinkels,R (2494)-Sasikiran,K (2680) Eilat 2012}) 18. Qd2 f6 19. Kf2
fxe5+ 20. Kg1 {The king is back his nest and Black has just two pawns.} Qe7 21.
Nc3 Qc5+ 22. e3 Qe7 23. Rac1 $16 {White is clearly better and went onto win
the game.} h5 24. h4 Rcd8 25. e4 d4 26. Nb1 Rf6 27. Qg5 Qd6 28. Nd2 Be2 29. Nc4
Qb4 30. Qd2 Qxd2 31. Rxd2 Bxc4 32. Rxc4 g5 33. hxg5 Rg6 34. Bh3 Re8 35. Rc6 Re7
36. Kg2 Kg7 37. Rdc2 Rxg5 38. Rxe6 Rxe6 39. Bxe6 Rg6 40. Rc7+ Kf8 41. Bf5 1-0
Did it come to you as a surprise that your eighth round opponent Almira Skripchenko did not turn up or were you aware that she was not going to play the round?
I took the bus and went to the playing hall. It was like 20 minutes before the game when I was told that she may not come due to health reasons. It was a pretty gloomy feeling. The win does help my tournament standing but I felt different from all the other players who were fighting it out. You could say that I was happy and sad at the same time.
The game against Nino Batsiashvili in the penultimate round was perhaps the most important game of the tournament for you. Were you already relaxed that you had scored two wins against Gunina and Khademalsharieh, or you wanted to win at all costs for a first place finish?
The game against Batsiashvili was my favourite. After I won this game I became the winner of the Women's Grand Prix, which was a big relief. And as it was 30th of November, I got to see the Rapid Playoffs of the World Championship Match between Carlsen and Karjakin as well!
Overall I wanted to score one point out of two. As I had the black pieces against Nino I wanted to play solidly. But she started to play double-edged chess and that gave me the chance to play for a win!
Nino Batsiashvili vs Ju Wenjun
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2016.11.30"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Batsiashvili, Nino"]
[Black "Ju, Wenjun"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2489"]
[BlackElo "2580"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2016.11.19"]
well known that this line is not dangerous for Black.} exd5 5. Nc3 Bb4 {
Wenjun transposes to the Ragozin. In fact c6 would have been a move which
tries to take advantage of White's move order by threatening to develop the
bishop to f5.} (5... c6) 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 O-O 8. e3 Bf5 9. Bd3 (9. Qb3 {
would be the most principled move.} Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nbd7 11. Be2 {White can
hope for some edge here.}) 9... Bxd3 10. Qxd3 c6 11. O-O Nbd7 12. a3 Bd6 13. b4
Qe7 14. Rfe1 Qe6 15. Nd2 Qg4 16. Bg3 Bxg3 17. hxg3 Rfe8 {Overall Black's
position looks quite harmonious.} 18. Nf1 (18. b5 c5 $1 $15) 18... h5 19. Rac1
a5 20. b5 c5 21. Na4 (21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Qb1 {was another possibility.}) 21...
c4 22. Qc2 Qe6 (22... Qe4 $1 $11) 23. f3 (23. e4 $5 dxe4 (23... Nxe4 24. f3 $16
) 24. Qxc4 Qxc4 25. Rxc4 $14) 23... Qd6 24. Ra1 Nh7 25. Nc3 Nb6 26. a4 Qd7 27.
Rad1 f5 28. e4 $1 fxe4 29. fxe4 dxe4 30. Nxe4 Qf5 31. Nfd2 Rac8 32. Nf3 Nd5 33.
Ne5 $6 (33. Re2 Nb4 34. Qb1 Qd5 $11 (34... Nd3 35. Nd6 $18)) 33... Ng5 $1 34.
Rc1 Nxe4 35. Rxe4 (35. Qxe4 Qxe4 36. Rxe4 c3 $17 {Black has a great knight and
a passed pawn. Black is just better.}) 35... Nc3 $1 36. Rf4 Qxc2 37. Rxc2 Nd5
$1 {Wenjun doesn't go for the extra pawn. She prefers to maintain control.} (
37... Nxa4 38. Rxc4 Nc3 $17) 38. Rf3 c3 39. Kf2 Re7 40. b6 $2 {Stopping Rec7
but now the b6 pawn is weak. This was the last move before time control.} Re6
$1 41. Nd7 Rd6 42. Nc5 Rxb6 $19 43. Ke2 Re8+ (43... Rb2 $19) 44. Kd3 Nb4+ 45.
Kxc3 Nxc2 46. Kxc2 Rb4 47. Kc3 b6 48. Nd3 Rc8+ {A complex game, but I really
liked how Ju Wenjun tried to keep control on the position.} 0-1
After drawing your game with Pogonina, you won the tournament. Not only that, you also become the World Championship challenger. How did you celebrate your victory?
After my victory I went to Shenzhen to play in the Chinese League for team Shanghai. Along with it I also promoted chess in schools with other players. I just came back home and will now think about how to celebrate! Meeting my friends looks like a good idea. I will also go to the gym, because I like working out!
Who is your coach currently?
I would rather not reveal that! Well, what can I say, a secret makes a woman woman!
How will you prepare for the World Cup/World Championship 2017 to be held in Iran in 2017? Do you think this victory and the fact that you already have the right to challenge the winner of the World Championship will reduce your motivation to perform your best?
No, it will not reduce my motivation to perform my best. I want to do all that I can and leave no space for regrets. If I get knocked out by some player it will only be because I didn't play well, not because of lack of motivation. I will prepare hard for each game focusing on my opponent's playing style.
What do you think about the Hijab controversy surrounding the Women’s World Cup 2017?
If a chess player would like to boycott the Women's World Cup in Iran, that is her right to do so. As for me, I will be playing there. If you count Tehran 2017, it will be my fifth time in Iran. I go there as a chess player and just play chess.
What is your opinion about the current Women’s World Championship cycle? Are you fine with World Championships held every year? Or would you prefer a different format?
The current cycle gives me more opportunity to win Women World Championship. I am fine with the system.
What is your take on Hou Yifan’s decision to pull out of the World Championship cycle?
I respect Hou Yifan's decision and wish her all the success in future. She pulling out from the World Championship cycle has left the other players with more chances.
What is your ultimate aim in chess?
To win Women's World Championship title. I also want my rating to improve. Hopefully one day I will play in an elite chess event.
Thank you Ju Wenjun for your time and effort in answering these questions. Highly appreciated!
Pictures from the official website