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LEI TINGJIE beat her fellow Chinese chess grandmaster Tan Zhongyi in the Women’s Candidates Final being played in Chongqing earlier today.
Lei lost the first game in the six-game classical chess contest but stormed back to win three of the next four, including today’s game five, to secure a 3.5-1.5 win with a game to spare.
The 26-year-old, the youngest and least experienced player competing in the Candidates, receives €60,000 and the right to challenge current women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, also of China, for the title in July. That match is due to be played in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Some 1,100 miles south-west of Beijing, the city of Chongqing is an important centre of Chinese chess: both Lei and Tan were born there and are teammates at the Chongqing Sports Lottery Chess Club.
Lei’s win also means she has climbed to number five in the women’s world ratings, ahead of Ju. Tan remains eighth. China’s Hou Yifan remains top of the ratings but stepped back from high-level chess events in 2018 to pursue an academic career.
