The match was planned in two parts, one held in Shanghai (China) and one in Vladivostok (Russia), from 3 to 24 January 2020. It marked a return to a match-only format for the title with a qualifying Candidates Tournament, after new FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich had expressed his dissatisfaction with the knock-out tournaments and resulting frequently changing world champions.
The newly-established Candidates Tournament was held from 29 May to 19 June 2019 in Kazan, Russia. The format was an eight-player double round-robin tournament.[2]
Three players qualified by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the last championship.[3] All remaining players came from the rating list, by taking the average of all twelve monthly ratings in 2018.[4] Aleksandra Goryachkina replaced Hou Yifan, who declined an invitation.[5]
As in 2018, the match was divided into two parts, hosted by the countries of the players. One stage was held in Shanghai, China and the other in Vladivostok, Russia.[9] In Shanghai the match was played in the InterContinental Shanghai Jing'An Hotel, in Vladivostok at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.[10] The format was increased to twelve games, the last championships having consisted of only 10 scheduled games.
The classical time-control portion of the match ended with a tied score of 6-6, after 3 victories for Ju, 3 victories for Goryachkina, and 6 draws. On 24 January, 4 games of rapid chess were used as a tie-breaker; and Ju Wenjun retained the title with 1 win and 3 draws.
Schedule
The match started off in Shanghai and ended in Vladivostok.
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Ju Wenjun 
Aleksandra Goryachkina 
