The 2025 FIDE Women's World Championship took a dramatic turn as challenger GM Tan Zhongyi seized a 1.5-0.5 lead over reigning champion GM Ju Wenjun in a grueling 62-move thriller. What seemed destined to be a dead-drawn rook endgame collapsed for Ju in time pressure, handing Tan a crucial victory after nearly five hours of combat.
History repeated itself in eerie fashion—just like their 2018 title match, Tan won Game 2 after an opening draw. This time, she defied superstition by reprising her 1.c4 English Opening from seven years prior. "My team debated whether it was bad luck," Tan admitted with a smile post-game, "but I trusted my intuition."
Ju initially held firm with Black, improvising a novel 11...Qe7 deviation from elite-level theory. "You can't just make moves—you need a plan!" she later reflected, though her 20-minute time deficit foreshadowed trouble. The critical meltdown came as the clock ticked under three minutes: 38...Rf5? (instead of active 38...Rb3!) and the fatal 40...Ke8? transformed a lifeless position into a losing one.
"At move 40, the evaluation becomes extremely difficult," a weary Ju confessed. Commentators GM Judit Polgar and IM Jovanka Houska watched in disbelief as the champion's precision evaporated under time pressure—mirroring Tan's own collapse in their 2018 encounter.
With 10 games remaining, Ju must regroup during Sunday's rest day before fighting back with White in Game 3 (April 6, 3:00 a.m. ET). But Tan's psychological edge now looms large—proving that in world championship chess, history has a way of rhyming.