Wang Hao & Ju Wenjun new Chinese Champions
Wang Hao and Ju Wenjun became the new Chinese Champions on Friday in Xinghua, China. Wang Hao edged out Bu Xiangzhi and Zhou Jianchao on tiebreak after the three ended on 7.5/11. Ju Wenjun ended clear first with 8/11.The Chinese Championship took place May 24-June 4 in Xinghua, China. The city is located in the central part of Jiangsu Province.The rate of play of both the 'open' and the women section was 90 minutes and 30 seconds increment for the whole game. Except for Wang Yue, who played the FIDE Grand Prix, in Astrakhan, all Chinese top players participated. Hou Yifan played in the open section.Wang Hao didn't have a very impressive start; after six rounds he was still on a mediocre 50% score. However, thanks to a very strong finish of 4.5/5 (a draw against Bu Xiangzhi and wins versus Lu Shanglei, Zhou Jianchao, Zhou Weiqi and Ni Hua in the last round) he caught Bu Xiangzhi and Zhou Jianchao in the last round and then turned out to have the best tiebreak. His games and those of women champion Ju Wenjun can be found in the game viewer below.
The top eight of both groups qualified for next year's Chinese Championship. The last four of both groups will play in the B group in 2011. More importantly, the championship decided the teams that will go to the 2010 Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. Before the tournament Wang Yue, Wang Hao and Li Chao b. had already qualified for the men's team and Hou Yifan, Zhao Xue, Ju Wenjun and Wang Yu A. for the women's team. The new qualifiers (men) are Bu Xiangzhi, Zhou Jianchao and (women) Huang Qian. So the Chinese teams will have:Men: Wang Yue, Wang Hao, Bu Xiangzhi, Zhou Jianchao and Li Chao b Women: Hou Yifan, Zhao Xue, Ju Wenjun, Huang Qian and Wang Yu A.
The games of both champions
Game viewer by ChessTempo
Bu Xiangzhi vs Ni Hua, two big names...
...but it was that other big name Wang Hao who took the title
Hou Yifan usually prefers to play against the strongest opposition possible - she scored 4.5 points against 11 male opponents
Ju Wenjun is the new Chinese ladies champion
Speeches by the winners at the closing ceremony...
...which saw many dansers...
..and singers...
..and children...
...all in beautiful colours...
...and (chess) outfits
Photos © Zhang Xiaolu
Links
- Official website
- Chess News Blog
- Games in PGN: Men | Women via TWIC
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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