Ju Wenjun
The reigning queen. A five-time Women's World Champion from China, Ju Wenjun has held the women's crown since 2018 with a quiet, unshakeable consistency — solid, universal, and tough to beat across every time control. With Ding Liren, she made China the first nation to hold both the open and women's world titles at once.
The Catalan — the kind of strategically rich, low-risk 1.d4 system that suits Ju Wenjun's solid, universal style. Patient and technically excellent, she wins the way the great positional champions do: by outplaying opponents in long, well-understood positions.
Born
1991 · Shanghai, China
Title
Reigning Women's World Champion — five-time winner
Reign Began
2018, defended in 2018, 2020, 2023, and 2025
Also
Women's world rapid and blitz champion
Five titles and counting
Ju Wenjun won the Women's World Championship in 2018 and simply kept it. Across knockout events, match defenses, and the long grind of qualifying cycles, she has defended the title again and again — five championships in all, the first Chinese player to reach that mark. Her chess is not built on fireworks but on completeness: solid openings, deep strategic understanding, sharp endgame technique, and a calm that holds up under championship pressure.
When Ding Liren took the open world title in 2023, China held both world championships at the same time — Ding among the men, Ju among the women. No country had ever done that before. Ju's steady dominance is a central pillar of China's rise to the top of world chess.
Where her games live in this library
Solid, strategic systems
Ju favours sound, strategically rich openings — the Catalan and classical Queen's Gambit structures — where long-term understanding outweighs memorized tactics.
Technique across time controls
Her command of structure and the endgame makes her formidable not only in classical play but in the rapid and blitz events she has also won at world level.
The Queen's Gambit Declined — a classical, structurally rich battleground that rewards exactly Ju Wenjun's strengths: sound preparation, patient strategy, and flawless technical conversion.
Ju Wenjun — FAQ
Who is Ju Wenjun?
A Chinese grandmaster and the reigning Women's World Chess Champion. She first won the title in 2018 and has defended it repeatedly, becoming a five-time women's world champion, and has also won women's world rapid and blitz titles.
How many times has Ju Wenjun been women's world champion?
Five times — she won in May 2018 and November 2018, then defended in 2020, 2023, and 2025, becoming the fourth woman ever, and the first from China, to win the women's title five times.
What is significant about Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun together?
When Ding won the open World Championship in 2023, China simultaneously held both the open and women's titles — Ding among the men, Ju among the women. It was the first time one country held both crowns at once.
The Catalan — a strategic, low-risk 1.d4 system that suits Ju Wenjun's patient style.
The Queen's Gambit Declined — classical structures where her technique decides the game.
The Ruy Lopez — the long strategic games that reward her completeness and calm.
- Ju Wenjun profile, FIDE and Britannica.
- Women's World Championship records (2018, 2020, 2023, 2025).
- Coverage of China holding both world titles (2023).
- ChessBase and CGTN reports on her fifth title.
Trailblazers & champions
Ju Wenjun reigns alongside the open champion in this lineage; the legends who came before her are all here. Explore the rest.