Tan Zhongyi, the challenger in this Women’s World Chess Championship match, lost her second straight game (and third in the last four) and trails defending champion Ju Wenjun 4-2 at the halfway point.
On paper, Tan had an excellent chance to level the scores coming into game 6. Her previous games with White were successful: a win in game 2 and what should have been another win in game 4. This time, she obtained nothing from the opening; worse, she was speedily outplayed in the middlegame and was lost. Tan received a break when Ju played 22…Bf6?, her only error in the game. That allowed mass exchanges and gave White enough activity to draw with correct play, but Tan’s 31.h4? left her lost once again. Ju’s technique was excellent, and White had no further opportunities to save the game.
After a shaky start to the match, Ju seems to have found her form and figured out how to handle her rival. Tan needs to figure things out quickly, before the match turns into a blowout. We’ll see what happens in game 7; for now, here is game 6, with my commentary.