The first four games between Lei and fellow Chinese player, defending world champion Ju Wenjun have all been drawn, with today’s victory meaning Lei takes a 3-2 lead.

Lei made a strong start by using a method called The Italian Game, one of the oldest recorded chess openings, allowing her to earn more space on the board and achieve greater control in the centre and the light squares.

A mistake by Ju allowed Lei to make a strong move on the queenside of the board, and with plenty of time in hand she was able to break through in the centre with a strong pawn push.

In response Ju spent more than 20 minutes thinking about how to react and made a bad move which allowed Lei to close out victory.

Following today’s match Lei was asked if she felt any pressure and responded by saying: "If you feel it, you have it - if you don’t feel it, you don’t have it. I’m just happy to be here."

Ju acknowledged today’s encounter was a tough match for her, but said she tried not to show too much emotion.

"This match puts more pressure on me than other tournaments, but this is something I have to endure," she said.    

A further seven games are scheduled in the match, which uses the classical format, with tomorrow’s sixth game the final one scheduled in Shanghai, before the contest moves on to Chongqing.