Norway Chess Women: Lei scores, remains in contention

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/7/2024 – Lei Tingjie scored a crucial classical win in round 9 of the Norway Chess Women event, as she defeated R Vaishali with white to remain in contention for tournament victory. Lei is now tied for second place with Anna Muzychuk, 1½ points behind sole leader Ju Wenjun. Ju and Lei are set to face each other in Friday’s final round. Meanwhile, Muzychuk will play white against Humpy Koneru. | Photo: Stev Bonhage / Norway Chess
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Ju v. Lei in the final round

The contenders of the latest match for the Women’s World Championship, Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie, will face each other in the final round of the inaugural Norway Chess Women tournament. Ju enters the deciding round with a 1½-point lead over Lei and Anna Muzychuk, as the latter is set to face Humpy Koneru with the white pieces on Friday.

Lei joined the fight for tournament victory by scoring two consecutive classical wins in rounds 8 and 9. On Thursday, she got the better of former sole leader R Vaishali with white. The Chinese GM only needed 26 moves to take down her younger opponent.

The remaining two encounters in round 9 saw Ju and Muzychuk obtaining wins in Armageddon deciders, over Humpy and Pia Cramling respectively. Remarkably, the three players who remain in contention for overall victory are undefeated in classical chess at the groundbreaking tournament in Stavanger — the women’s event has the same format and an equivalent prize fund compared to the longstanding open super-tournament.

Standings after round 9

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Ju Wenjun CHN 2559 16
2 Lei Tingjie CHN 2548 14.5
Anna Muzychuk UKR 2505 14.5
4 R Vaishali IND 2489 11.5
5 Humpy Koneru IND 2545 9
6 Pia Cramling SWE 2449 6.5

Ju Wenjun

Sole leader Ju Wenjun | Photo: Stev Bonhage

Lei 1 - 0 Vaishali

Analysis by André Schulz

Lei Tingjie, Vaishali Rameshbabu

Lei Tingjie and R Vaishali | Photo: Stev Bonhage

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

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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.