Tan Zhongyi, the 33-year-old challenger, took a shock 1.5-0.5 lead in game two of the 12-game Women’s World Championship match in Shanghai on Friday morning when Ju Wenjun, 34, the champion since 2018, resigned on move 62 after a costly endgame blunder due to move 40 time pressure.
Ju’s difficulties could be traced back to the opening, when she took 10 minutes for each of moves 10-12 and was behind on the clock from then on. Their rook endgame should still have been an easy draw, but on move 31 Ju went wrong with the hasty 31…c5? (Kf8! is equal) and she then missed her last chance with 40…Ke8? (40…b4! keeping the rook active was needed). Tan responded with 41 Ke4! activating her king and showed good technique in converting her extra pawn.
