On April 17th ，the press conference for 2018 “Lai Yin Cup” Women’s World Chess Championship Match was presented in Jiulongpo District of Chongqing,the city of current woman world champion Tan Zhongyi’s hometown .

 

As for the top event of FIDE, 2018 women's world chess championship match kicks off in May.The current women chess world champion Tan Zhongyi faces her challenger, the winner of the FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix 2015-2016 Ju Wenjun. The match will consist of 10 games with the first to reach 5.5 declared winner. 

The match is divided into two stages: Shanghai and Chongqing, and five games at each place. according to the schedule , the first game will start in Shang Hai on May 3rd.

The 2 players are both from china, that is to say, China has clinched the Champion already. For this certainty, Ye Jiangchuan, the head coach of Chinese Chess team said: “we are delighted whoever wins the match”, “Normally, our players are asked to take part in national team training before the match when competing with foreign opponent, however ,this time their respective teams will responsible for preparations and we will not interfere too much.” Ye Jiangchuan also told reporters that both of them have the chance to win because the two players are really well matched.

“Players' mentality, on-the-spot performance, even the physical and psychological state of the day will all affect the result of the competition.” said Ye Jiangchuan " whether a chess player is steady and calm mentally or whether he would recover quickly from the stress of temporary failure will definitely have an impact on the match." Ye Jiangchuan said so.

At the news conference, Tan Zhongyi said she is ready for the upcoming defending battle. "After last year's victory, I had already knew who the challenger is (Ju has gain the right of challenge )and made a year long preparation." Tan Zhongyi said she had enough confidence in the competition, which based on the adequate preparation and her own strength."

Meanwhile, Tan Zhongyi also expressed that it is impossible to predict what the outcome will be as the situation in the game may change every minute it goes, and what she has to do is doing well in each step. “As for the expectation of the game, I have to say I will strive to give my best. After all, the charm of competitive sport lies on its unexpectability."

Original Chinese report by:Liang Ziming