
Much like in the open section of the Norway Chess event, round 7 in the women’s tournament saw the most important confrontation of the day ending with one of the contenders losing on time. In this case, it was Ju Wenjun who ran out of time in the Armageddon tiebreaker against Anna Muzychuk. Muzychuk, who underperformed at the Candidates Tournament, is now the sole leader in Stavanger.
Ju, playing white, was flagged in the following — balanced — position.
60.Rh7+ was the last move played in the game. It is true that White is the one putting pressure with her active king and knight, but Black should get enough compensation to hold a draw due to White’s weakened pawn on a5.
Lei Tingjie also prevailed in Armageddon, as she beat Pia Cramling with black in the rapid tiebreaker. The one encounter that featured a decisive classical game was the all-Indian confrontation between Humpy Koneru and R Vaishali — Humpy inflicted a second consecutive classical loss on the former sole leader.
Vaishali now stands in third place, 1½ points behind Ju and 2 points behind Muzychuk, her round-8 opponent.
Anna Muzychuk v. Ju Wenjun | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Analysis by André Schulz
Humpy Koneru | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Rk | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
1 | Anna Muzychuk | UKR | 2505 | 12 |
2 | Ju Wenjun | CHN | 2559 | 11.5 |
3 | R Vaishali | IND | 2489 | 10 |
4 | Lei Tingjie | CHN | 2548 | 8.5 |
5 | Humpy Koneru | IND | 2545 | 8 |
6 | Pia Cramling | SWE | 2449 | 5.5 |
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