Women's World Chess Championship 2023

The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship was a chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It was contested by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, the winner of the 2022–23 Candidates tournament.

It was played in two Chinese cities from 5 to 24 July 2023, giving each participant a home-field advantage.

Ju won the match and successfully defended her title.

Candidates tournament
The second edition of the women's Candidates was played in the last quarter of 2022. In contrast to the previous edition, this was played in a knock-out format. It has been speculated that the pairings were made to prevent a Russia vs Ukraine matchup before the final.

It featured eight players, including three former Women's World champions. In the final, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi played a six-game match to determine the Challenger spot. Lei Tingjie won the match in 5 games.

Match
The match was scheduled for 5 to 25 July 2023. As in 2018, it was played in two halves, giving each player a home advantage. The host cities were Chongqing and Shanghai. Shanghai hosted the first half and Chongqing the second.

The format of the championship was a 12-game match as in previous years.

English-language commentators on Chess.com included Jovanka Houska, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Daniel Naroditsky and Judit Polgar. FIDE commentators were Alik Gershon and Xu Yi.

Seconds
Ju's seconds were Pentala Harikrishna and Wei Yi, while Lei's seconds were Teimour Radjabov and Raymond Song.

Schedule

 * 4 July: Opening Ceremony (Shanghai)
 * 5 and 6 July: Games 1 and 2
 * 8 and 9 July: Games 3 and 4
 * 11 and 12 July: Games 5 and 6
 * 13 July: Transfer to Chongqing
 * 15 and 16 July: Games 7 and 8
 * 18 and 19 July: Games 9 and 10
 * 21 and 22 July: Games 11 and 12
 * 23 July: Tiebreaks (if needed)
 * 24 July: Closing Ceremony

Games start at 3 p.m. local time (07:00 UTC).

Results
At the opening ceremony, Lei Tingjie received the white pieces for the first game of the match, with colors alternating after every game.

As of 2023, both the Open World Chess Champion (Ding Liren) and Women World Chess Champion are from China.