Game of Queens

The election of the venues for the upcoming Women’s World Chess Championship match between 17th Women’s World Chess Champion 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and her challenger Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina was finally made public throughout the FIDE web site. As in 1999, even this time, and precisely on January 2020, the Women’s World Championship match will be held in two venues: 上海 (Shànghǎi) (China) and Vladivostok (Russia) — thus reflecting the birth countries of both women — with a rich prize fund of €500,000 €uros after taxes. Furthermore, the 1999 and the 2020 matches have another similarity in common. Prior to the 1999 match between 谢军 (Xiè Jūn) and Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova, indeed, 8th Women’s World Chess Champion Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgár had been “dethroned” by FIDE after bitter controversy. And even this time, a rebel Oxfordian Queen, a Phantom of the Opera — namely 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who wore the queendom’s crown on four times just to be barely tolerated, if not snubbed, by the chess oligarchy — will be out there ready to cast her metaphysical curse upon the usurpers of her throne. Usually, history should not repeat itself, but of course Caïssa can make miracles happen.