Ju Wenjun Strikes Back To Win Game 3

GM Ju Wenjun ground out a win in a pawn-up endgame to defeat GM Tan Zhongyi and level the scores at 1.5-1.5 after three games of the 2025 FIDE Women's World Championship. Tan played fast in a Sicilian to pressure her opponent, but in the run-up to the time control Ju grabbed a pawn. The opposite-colored bishop endgame was still a draw with best play, but Tan cracked at move 60 and Ju went on to win a nerve-wracking clash in 5.5 hours and 87 moves. 

Game four, when Tan will have the white pieces, starts on Monday, April 7, at 3:00 a.m. ET / 09:00 CEST / 12:30 p.m. IST. 

GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed game three of the match below.

Ju has now trailed by a point in four separate women's world championship matches, but each time she's hit back to level the scores. This time she did it immediately, after varying with 3.c4 when the players had repeated the Sicilian they played in game one.

That move, only the seventh most popular in the position, was described as a "slight surprise" by Tan, but that didn't stop her from playing fast and going on to once again build up a 20-minute edge on the clock. She would laugh afterward at the suggestion that playing fast might be a strategy, saying that if anything she's playing more slowly than usual and that she's "quite cautious this time—otherwise I’d be much quicker!"

The position soon had never been seen before. When Tan broke in the center with 7...d5, we got a simplified position where it was far from obvious whether White should aim to attack or blockade Black's isolated d-pawn. IM Irene Sukandar highlighted some of the issues.

Irene Sukandar: "I think this position requires the combination of tactical and strategical thinking... I wish I could dive into Ju Wenjun's mind right now!" #JuTan pic.twitter.com/wFH7bBWCds

— chess24 (@chess24com) April 6, 2025

A tense middlegame was full of concealed traps for both sides, but in the run-up to the time control Ju emerged with an advantage thanks to her bishop pair. Then, on move 37, she converted the edge into something concrete by grabbing the d5-pawn.

The only good response was the tricky 37...Ne3!, which Tan duly found, but after 38.h4 she would later regret playing 38...Qg4 rather than the serious alternative 38...Nxd5.

Either way, Ju would emerge a pawn up, and the position in the game was one of those where "objectively" the opposite-colored bishops should be enough for Black to hold a draw, but the rooks on the board complicated matters.

As we'd already seen in the previous game, however, "drawn" positions are often far from easy to draw. Ju set about her task resolutely and began to make clear progress as the c-pawn advanced two squares to c5. The transfer of the bishop from e6, where it anchored the f7-pawn, to c6 proved to be flawed, with 60...Bc6? the moment when the computer flagged that White was suddenly winning.

Ju correctly invaded with 61.Kg5!, saving the e5-square for her bishop, and Tan was on the ropes, though it was only after getting to play 73.f3! that Ju was sure she was "totally winning because Black doesn’t carry out a very strong plan."

It's mate-in-one if the black bishop moves, and checkmating threats would likely have ended the game on the spot if Ju had played 77.Bf6+! later, but her methodical approach of bringing round her king and pushing her passed pawns also got the job done.

The only danger was the clock, with Ju making two moves with just eight seconds to spare, but she never slipped and got to finish with a flourish by pushing her h-pawn when it could no longer be stopped.

If Black captures the a5-bishop, White can sacrifice her rook for the e6-bishop and queen the c-pawn. There was no solution for Tan, who with just two seconds to spare played 86...Bc8, only to finally resign, by putting the result on the scoresheet, when the h-pawn was pushed another square.

A nerve-wracking finish, but in 5.5 hours & 87 moves, Ju Wenjun has bounced straight back to level the Women's World Championship at 1.5-1.5 after Game 3! https://t.co/p55UvAaVXM#JuTan pic.twitter.com/lT3nPuMcFK

— chess24 (@chess24com) April 6, 2025

So both players have now lost games they looked favorite to hold, and the scores are level after three hard-fought encounters. Ju agreed with a questioner who asked if she was "in the zone." Does she now have the momentum on her side, or can Tan strike again?

We'll get our first chance to see on Monday, when Tan has the white pieces for game four and will be hoping to make it three white wins in a row! 

The 2025 FIDE Women's World Championship is the most important women's over-the-board event of the year. The defending women's world champion, GM Ju Wenjun, faces the challenger, GM Tan Zhongyi, to see who will be crowned world champion. The championship started on April 3 in Shanghai and boasts a €500,000 ($540k) prize fund.

Previous Coverage

• • Game 2: Tan Zhongyi Stuns Ju Wenjun To Win Game 2
  • Game 1: Tan Holds Ju To Draw As Women's World Championship Starts In Shanghai
  • Can Ju Wenjun Win 5th World Championship?
  • 2025 FIDE Women's World Championship: All The Information
  • Gukesh Youngest Ever Candidates Winner, Tan Takes Women's By 1.5 Points
  • Ju Wenjun Wins 4th Women's World Championship Title