Ju Wenjun of China won the tiebreak at the Women's World Chess Championships to retain her title ©Getty Images

Ju Wenjun of China won the tiebreak at the Women's World Chess Championships to retain her title. 

Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia forced the encounter into tiebreaks yesterday, drawing the 12th and final match with Ju 6-6.

Today's tiebreaks consisted of four, 25-minute rapid games. 

The first two games were drawn, before Ju triumphed in the third game playing with the white pieces. 

She then narrowly held on for a draw in the fourth game with black to keep her world title. 

Ju Wenjun's victory saw her earn the highest amount of prize money ever awarded in women's chess ©Twitter/Eteri Kublashvili
Ju Wenjun's victory saw her earn the highest amount of prize money ever awarded in women's chess ©Twitter/Eteri Kublashvili

Ju's victory saw her claim €500,000 (£426,000/$554,000) of prize money, the highest ever awarded in women's chess.

Goryachkina had the final home advantage, with the last six matches and tiebreaks taking place at Vladivostok's Far Eastern Federal University.

The first six matches had been held on Ju's home turf in Shanghai.