Norway Chess Women: Ju grabs the sole lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/3/2025 – Ju Wenjun took the sole lead at the Norway Chess Women tournament after claiming her first classical win of the event against Sara Khadem in round seven. Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk drew both their games, allowing Muzychuk, who had the black pieces, to collect 1½ points. Lei Tingjie also notched her first classical victory by beating Vaishali Rameshbabu. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Ju and Lei obtain first classical wins

Ju Wenjun became the sole leader of the Norway Chess Women tournament after scoring her first classical win of the event in round seven. The women's world champion defeated Sara Khadem with the white pieces, collecting 3 points and thus overtaking previous co-leaders Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk.

Humpy and Koneru faced each other on Monday and drew both their classical and Armageddon games, which allowed Muzychuk, who had the black pieces, to earn 1½ points and stay within striking distance of the top.

Standings after round 7

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Ju Wenjun CHN 2580 11½
2 Anna Muzychuk UKR 2526 11
3 Humpy Koneru IND 2543 10½
4 Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 9
5 Vaishali R IND 2475 8
6 Sara Khadem SPA 2449 6

Anna Muzychuk

Anna Muzychuk stands in sole second place | Photo: Michal Walusza

Ju's win over Khadem was decided in a technical position with queens, rooks, and bishops of opposite colours. A key moment came on move 42, when Khadem erred with 42...Qd2. A more tenacious defence would have started with 42...Qa5, defending the f5-pawn.

Ju v. Khadem

Ju capitalised with 43.Be6 Qe2 44.Bxf5+, gaining a tempo while grabbing a pawn. Despite her material advantage, Ju needed precision to convert the win, which she finally secured on move 73, marking a strong performance in her seventh mini-match of the event.

Ju Wenjun, Sara Khadem

Ju Wenjun v. Sara Khadem | Photo: Michal Walusza

Lei Tingjie also scored her first classical win in Stavanger, defeating Vaishali Rameshbabu with the white pieces. The Chinese grandmaster gained a slight initiative out of the Giuoco Piano and gradually built up pressure through the middlegame.

In a closely contested encounter, she outmanoeuvred her opponent and emerged victorious after 46 moves.

Lei, Tingjie25521–0Vaishali, Rameshbabu2475
Norway Chess Women 2025
Stavanger02.06.2025[CC]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nc3 h6 6.h3 d6 7.Na4 Bb6 8.a3 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.b4 0-0 11.0-0 Qe8 The players have followed the main patterns out of the Italian Opening. 12.Bb2 Not the most frequent continuation here. More principled is 12.c3 Nh5 13.Nxb6 axb6 as played, for example, in a Tari v. Anand game from the 2022 Norway Chess tournament. 12...Nh5 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.g3 Qf7 15.Nh2 Nd4 16.c3 Nf3+ 17.Nxf3 Qxf3 18.Qxf3 Rxf3 19.Rad1
The stage is set for a lengthy, strategic battle without the queens on the board. 19...b5 20.Kg2 Rf7 21.c4 bxc4 22.dxc4 Nf6 23.Rfe1 Nd7 24.Re2 Nb6 25.Rc2 Rd7 26.Rd3 Kf7 27.c5 After both players improved their pieces, White emerges with a bit of an initiative. dxc5 28.Rf3+ Kg8 29.bxc5 Na4 This is the best move in the position, but the knight's position looks rather discouraging for Black. 30.Ba1 Ra5 31.c6 bxc6 32.Rxc6 Nc5 33.Bc3 Rb5 34.Re3 A bit stronger is 34.Bxe5 and e.g. Nxe4 35.Bxc7 e5 36.Re3 Rd4 when White is for choice. 34...Nd3 35.a4 Rb6
36.Rc4 Not accurate. Stronger is 36.Rxc7 Rxc7 37.Ba5 Rc2 38.Bxb6 Rxf2+ which is, perhaps, what Lei feared while calculating, though after 39.Kg1 Rd2 40.a5 Nb4 Black will have trouble dealing with the passer. 36...Rb3 37.Re2 Ra3 38.a5 Nc1 This was the losing mistake. Vaishali had 1 minute and 9 seconds before playing this move and used 47 seconds to make her decision. 38...c5 is the correct defensive idea, and White will struggle to find a way to make progress, e.g.: 39.Rd2 Kf7 40.Kf1 g5 keeping things under control. 39.Bb2
A great find by Lei! 39...Nxe2 39...Rxg3+ 40.fxg3 Nxe2 41.Bxe5 is also clearly winning for White. 40.Bxa3 Nd4 41.a6 White's rook and bishop now have enough mobility to protect the passed pawn. Nb5 42.Bb2 Na7 43.Bxe5 c6 44.Bb8 Nb5 45.Rxc6 Kf7 46.Rb6
Vaishali resigned. 1–0

Lei Tingjie

Lei Tingjie | Photo: Michal Walusza

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<< Hiding away
Norway Chess: Caruana and Gukesh score crucial victories >>
Topics: Ju Wenjun, Norway Chess 2025
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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