麻辣火鍋 (Chóngqìng Hot Pot)

In the post-game press conference, moderated by the press attaché 谷笑冰 (Gǔ Xiàobīng) (left) as usual, 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) (centre) admitted that the opening did not fit with her preparation, which caused her to gradually fall into a not easy situation, culminated in her refusal to repeat moves. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (right) took her chances and reached an ending two Pawns up, which, however, fortunately — as 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) said — “could not be won”. On the other hand, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is only half happy: “Black has always kept the upper hand, but extreme accuracy was necessary to achieve an eventual win. And indeed, I wasn’t able to find a way to win”. In the end, they both don’t complain about the game’s result. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) said: “I play for the win all the time. From Black’s viewpoint, it’s a very satisfying result”. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) thinks that “It’s quite a normal result”. Tomorrow is the last free day before the final high noon. How shall they spend it? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) — who is leading by one point — will castle on her hotel room, collecting her energies for Friday. Instead, 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) — who must win at all costs to score the equaliser — will search for distractions and pleasures: “I might go out to eat a 麻辣火鍋 (Chóngqìng hot pot)”. On the eve of their last classical game, both 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) and 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) are quite tired, but still strong enough to keep each other in check. “I guessed it was stressful, but in some moments I feared that I had to go to the hospital”, 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) joked. She is aware that Friday might be her last day as Women’s World Champion: “At the moment my prospects are not too good and furthermore I will play Black. But be sure I’ll do my best”. Finally 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), just like a Queen, said with her usual modesty: “I will continue enjoying chess games, even my last one — without too much thinking”. Photo: 樊璐璐 (Fán Lùlù).