She won the Women's Chinese Chess Championship twice, in 2010 and 2014, and was awarded the coveted Grandmaster title the same year. By that time, Ju Wenjun had firmly established herself as one of the top female players in the world. Rated #5 in the women's list for most of 2015, she entered FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 series as one of the favourites. She finished on top, winning two out of five tournaments and qualified for the World Championship Match against her compatriot Tan Zhongyi who won the 2017 knockout championship.

Ju Wenjun continued her meteoric rise, becoming the fifth woman to cross the 2600 threshold by reaching her peak rating of 2604 in March 2017. A year later, on her 7th attempt in the Women's World Championships, Ju Wenjun defeated her compatriot Tan Zhongyi by 5½ - 4½ and became the Women's World Chess Champion. The match was played in two halves, the first in Shanghai and the latter in Chongqing.

Ju Wenjun has defended her title twice. In a 64-player knockout tournament in 2018, she was the top seed and won every round before the final without going into tiebreaks. In the final, she beat Kateryna Lagno on a tiebreak after coming back in the last classical game with Black. In a 2020 match against GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, the classical part finished in a 6-6 tie, and Wenjun clinched the title by winning the third game of a rapid tiebreak.

Just like in her first match that brought her the precious crown, Ju Wenjun is about to face her compatriot and split the competition between the same two cities, Shanghai and Chongqing. In 2018, the spectators were treated to a stretch of five consecutive decisive games at the start of the match and will expect no less as there is no escape from memories and analogies. This time, however, Ju Wenjun has to defend her ground, and her ambitious opponent tries to take the title from her. In a classic' youth vs experience' encounter, the 32-year-old champion will rely on her skill and prior match practice.

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In 2017, at 19, Tingjie won the national championship ahead of the women's world champion at the time, Tan Zhongyi. The same year she earned the coveted Grandmaster title, becoming the sixth woman to obtain it as a teenager. At the same time, rated 2522, Lei Tingjie entered the top-10 women's list for the first time but later dropped out.

After the pandemic hiatus, Lei Tingjie regained momentum and won the prestigious 2021 Women's Grand Swiss tournament with a round to spare. This success qualified her for the 2022/23 Candidates Tournament and elevated her back to the top 10. In April 2023, she won the Candidates, beating Tan Zhongyi 3½–1½ in the final.

Lei Tingjie is following in the footsteps of her great compatriot predecessors Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, and her current opponent Ju Wenjun and has a similar, trademark style – ambitious, dynamic, and willing to take risks. Should she win the match, Lei Tingjie will become the 18th Women's World Chess Champion and the 7th Chinese to claim the women's crown.

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