Goryachkina v Ju

Today saw the 12th game of the FIDE Women’s World Championship match between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Wenjun Ju, and much like the 2018 men’s match between Carlsen and Caruana, after the classical portion of the match the score is tied at 6 points a piece. The huge difference between the two matches however, is that the women’s match has seen 6 decisive games, including Goryachkina spectacularly winning on demand today in round 12, compared to none whatsoever in the men’s match. I think the Russian almost certainly has the advantage going into the tie-breaks, both due to her momentum and morale from the last match, and also that she is now on home soil, playing in Vladivostock. After storming the Candidates' match and winning with a whole round to spare, for the 21 year old to unseat the Chinese powerhouse would certainly have people to start to wonder how high Goryachkina’s ceiling is - she looks set to surpass 2600 rating this year, but can she surpass Hou Yifan? A 2700 rating? Even surpassing Judit Polgar’s rating and being able to compete in super-elite invitationals looks possible, albeit there is a very long way still to go in order to get there.

Once again, the ladies seem to be outclassing their male counterparts when it comes to producing entertaining games and storylines, and Dvorkovich’s decision to have both world championships follow the same format is looking to have paid off and then some. If Goryachkina does win then I think it could draw a decent amount of mainstream media attention, which would undoubtedly be a good thing for the game, and I am certainly looking forward to watching the rapid games at the weekend.