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Curiously, Magnus Carlsen finished the 2023 edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament without a single win in classical chess. However, the local hero won 7 out of the 8 Armageddon deciders he played in Stavanger. This year, in the inaugural edition of the parallel women’s event, Ju Wenjun has followed in the footsteps of Carlsen in the first four rounds, drawing all her classical games and prevailing in every single tiebreaker.
Given the tournament’s scoring system, this approach is not enough to top the standings — Carlsen finished the 2023 event in sixth place (out of 10). Now, Ju’s victories in the rapid tiebreakers left her in shared second place at a 2½-point distance from sole leader R Vaishali. The Indian rising star obtained classical wins in rounds 2 and 4.
In Thursday’s fourth round, Vaishali got the better of Pia Cramling with the black pieces. Cramling faltered decisively amid a balanced-yet-tricky rook endgame.
48.fxe6, as played in the game, loses to 48...Rxe6 49.Rg5 Re5 50.Rg6+ Kc5, and the king crucially approaches the a-file passer. Cramling resigned four moves later.
In the first diagrammed position, Cramling needed to play 48.Rg8 or 48.Rg7, and after 48...exf5 49.Kf4 White can keep the battle going.
Vaishali was not the only player to grab a classical win in round 4, as Anna Muzychuk defeated Humpy Koneru, also with the black pieces. Muzychuk is now tied for second place with Ju, who beat Lei Tingjie with black in the Armageddon tiebreaker.
R Vaishali playing black against living legend Pia Cramling | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Analysis by André Schulz
Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Stev Bonhage
| Rk | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | R Vaishali | IND | 2489 | 8.5 |
| 2 | Ju Wenjun | CHN | 2559 | 6 |
| Anna Muzychuk | UKR | 2505 | 6 | |
| 4 | Lei Tingjie | CHN | 2548 | 5 |
| 5 | Humpy Koneru | IND | 2545 | 3 |
| Pia Cramling | SWE | 2449 | 3 |
