Reigning Women’s World Champion GM Ju Wenjun defeated Women’s number-one GM Hou Yifan with a combined score of 11.5-9.5 in the all-Chinese finals of the 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship to claim the title for the second year in a row.
Hou had issues with her tactical decisions and clock-handling, which saw her begin the match with a 2.5-4.5 deficit after the 5+1 segment. She demonstrated her fighting qualities by pulling herself together and putting up a better fight in the 3+1 segment, which helped level the score to 3.5-3.5. However, she could not effect a comeback in the bullet segment, as Ju kept it under balance to again level the segment with a 3.5-3.5 score.
What was anticipated to be a thrilling battle between two titans turned out to be Ju’s domination in the 5+1 segment, followed by Hou’s better show in the 3+1 segment. She even won the first game of the bullet segment to pull herself just a point behind on the board, but her campaign went haywire in the very next game when she lost on time in a game where she held equality at some point. Her comeback efforts faltered at this point.
Women’s Speed Chess Championship Results
The scoreboard of the match is a clear indicator of Ju’s domination in the 5+1 time control and Hou’s recovery in 3+1, followed by attempts to stage a comeback in the bullet portion of the match.
5+1: Ju 4.5-2.5 Hou
During the first game itself, commentator GM Judit Polgar predicted, “We are going to see slow, slow kind of positions,” and that was how it initially looked, too. Both players started tentatively, consuming too much time on the clock in the first game, more than three minutes for just about 14 moves.
However, once this “warming up” stage was done, we first saw a pawn sacrifice from Ju, which Hou declined, only to come up with her own exchange sacrifice, and we had a fight on our hands.
Just as in the semifinals, commentator IM Jovanka Houska was all praise for Ju’s play, remarking she was “superior in a strategic game.”
This strategic squeeze in the very first game of the match is our Game of the Day, which will be analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.
But in the second game, Ju came up with a strategic howler early, giving Hou long-term control of the game. Hou played delightfully natural chess to increase her control of the game, coming up with a pretty strike, winning a pawn, which indeed produced an optical delight.
Hou Yifan breaks through on the c-file and equalizes the score in game two!https://t.co/mSNh656yBU#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/HUUBqT2Yfl
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 22, 2025
Thus, with these mutual strikes in the first two games, hopes of a big fight rose high. At this point, the audience poll was almost evenly divided, with 56% favoring Ju and 44% favoring Hou.
One delightful detail of today’s match can be seen in the snapshot above, which features three of the most successful women players in the history of the game: Ju (five-time world champion), Hou (four-time world champion), and Polgar (the strongest woman player ever).
The third game ended tragically with Hou blundering an equal rook endgame in her final seconds.
If we were to pick one game to exemplify how the match went, it would be the one given above: Hou losing her way with some kind of tactic under time pressure. And of course, Ju’s excellent play in strategic positions.
The fifth game was a delightful, complex clash, unlike almost all the previous games, which were more strategic in nature. Hou won on time to equalize the score at 2.5-2.5, and Ju’s favorite tag seemed to have faded away at this point.
However, Hou showed rustiness at this point, losing the last two games of the segment with tactical blunders. In the sixth game, it was a simple oversight in a middlegame position.
3+1: Ju 3.5-3.5 Hou
The segment started disastrously for Hou as she committed an unfortunate blunder while short on time.
😱 Hou Yifan blunders her queen, from a much better position!https://t.co/MaY1SbjNuz#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/cmEG6HZ1gv
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 22, 2025
Looking at the unfortunate blunders happening just at the turn of the segments, Polgar remarked, “The quality of the games has dropped.”
At this point, being three points down, though Hou seemed to be almost on the verge of being squeezed out of the match, she simply refused to give up. Down at a 4-8 score after the 12th game, she won the 13th and 14th games to level the score in the segment and once again pull back to just a two-point deficit.
The sixth game was a heroic effort from both players, culminating in an exciting win for Hou and heartbreak for Ju. The game was full of grave tactical errors, prompting Polgar to comment, “The (evaluation) bar is making nice exercises there!” It was still an exciting win for Hou at the end of a tactical seesaw.
The 14th game was when we saw Hou play quickly and consistently in the endgame. With Ju down to her final seconds, Hou flashed out clever moves to score an impressive win. It was as if the tactical errors just a while ago didn’t happen at all.
1+1: Ju 3.5-3.5 Hou
When Hou won the first game of the bullet segment to pull just one point behind Ju, there was a lot of excitement in the air. But the 16th game saw more tactical errors from Hou and a win for Ju.
The most amusing moment and Ju’s class was exhibited in the fifth game, when Ju piled up an unusual construction overprotecting the e5-pawn in a Reti game. An overstretch of intuitive decision, even for a bullet game!
Thus, staving off the challenge from Hou, Ju scored a smooth and important victory in the 17th game, effectively ending the match, as there was no longer enough time for Hou to stage a comeback.
Speaking after the game, Ju picked the 5+1 format as her favorite, a segment where she can “show good chess.” Asked if she does any specific preparation for such matches, she replied that she just aims to “keep the energy, and keep fresh!”
For her win, Ju picked up $7,000 and $4,381 by win percentage as prize money for a total of $11,381, while Hou earned $3,619.
The 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, which took place August 4-22, was a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event saw 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls.
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