India, April 17 --After 38 moves in Game 9, Ju Wenjun paused to review her scoresheet for a few moments before stopping the clock. She declared a draw by three-fold repetition, shook hands with her opponent, and left the scene with an unreadable expression, as if nothing significant had occurred.

The 34-year-old Chinese Grandmaster had just secured her fifth title as the women's world chess champion, making her the first Chinese player and only the fourth woman in history to achieve this feat, following Vera Menchik, Nona Gaprindashvili, and Maia Chiburdanidze.

Although she initially fell behind in Game 2 against fellow Chinese player Tan Zhongyi, the match quickly turned in Ju's favor, culminating in four consecutive victories. As they approached Wednesday's game, Tan faced the daunting challenge of needing to win four games in a row to force tiebreaks, while Ju only required a draw. Ultimately, she retained her title with a score of 6.5-2.5, having three games remaining.

The championship match took place in two Chinese cities—Shanghai and Chongqing, the respective hometowns of Ju and Tan. The players chose distinctly different chairs for the competition; Ju selected a large swivel chair, while Tan opted for a standard upholstered wooden chair. This choice visually emphasized Ju's dominance over Tan, both in stature and in her gameplay.

Ju's first victory over Tan in 2018 marked her initial ascent to the title of women's world champion. Tan earned her place in this year's match following an impressive performance at the Candidates tournament, but as Ju noted, she "underperformed" in this encounter. The match's progression, particularly after Tan's early lead, saw Ju overpower her opponent with remarkable skill, reminiscent of Godzilla's rampage in Tokyo. "I was playing more and more in the zone," she remarked following her victory.

With her outstanding positional awareness and endgame proficiency, Ju has established herself as one of the most formidable female chess players for an extended period. She is also the reigning women's world blitz champion and a two-time women's world rapid champion. Demonstrating her exceptional endgame technique, Ju achieved the most significant victory of her career at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in January of the previous year.

An impressive aspect of Ju is her mindset, remarked Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna, a member of Ju's 2023 World Championship team, in an interview with HT. "Even when she was missing opportunities and falling behind against Lei (Tingjie), she maintained her self-belief. She approached the games as if nothing had occurred."

This was not an isolated occurrence. In the 2018 competition, she defeated Kateryna Lagno with the Black pieces when it was crucial, forcing a playoff. In 2020, despite only needing a draw against Aleksandra Goryachkina, she lost but subsequently defended her title in a playoff.

For this recent championship, Ju's team included Grandmasters Ni Hua—who also served as Ding's second during his match against Gukesh last year—and Russian Grandmaster Maxim Matlakov.

"She has unwavering trust in her team, which instills a great deal of confidence in a second," Harikrishna noted. "We had explored various opening strategies for one of the earlier games in the 2023 match, but they did not materialize. When we revisited those ideas for Game 12, they appeared somewhat risky, especially with the match scores level. However, she made a courageous decision and declared, 'I'm going for it.'"

Leading up to the 2023 match, Harikrishna was unable to travel to China due to the pandemic, so they collaborated remotely online.

"I was participating in an event, so I would wake up very early for our sessions with Ju. She noticed it was challenging for me and suggested I get some rest and that we could reschedule our sessions. The entire experience of working with someone so focused, determined, mentally resilient, and always eager to learn left a lasting impression on me. Off the board, she has a playful spirit and excels at discovering the best dining spots. That is one of her remarkable talents."

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