The Chinese Championships in open and women sections took place in Xinghua Jiangsu, a city in Eastern China (just like in the previous year) from May 07-15 2021. Both tournaments were 12-player round-robins with the time control of 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one.

The open section was a four-man race between Yu Yangyi (pictured below), Wei Yi, Li Di, and Lu Shanglei taking turns on the top throughout the tournament distance. Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Li Di scored 7/11 each and tied for first place with Yu Yangyi coming out on top thanks to the best result in the direct encounters (he beat Wei Yi in their 10th round clash whereas Li Di lost Wei Yi and drew with Yu Yangyi). The 26-year old native of Huangshi defended the champion title that he had won at the end of 2020.

Photo: John Saunders

The Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun participated in the open section but finished in the red (-1) two points behind the top trio.

Final standings open:

     
Photo: John Saunders

In the women’s tournament, the defending champion and the top-rated player Tan Zhongyi (pictured above) was on a ball again and secured gold with a round to spare. Ning Kaiyu and Zhu Jiner shared second place finishing half a point behind the champion. The silver goes to Ning Kaiyu thanks to the victory in their direct encounter.

Final standings women: