6/7/2025 – Anna Muzychuk secured outright victory in the second edition of the Norway Chess Women tournament in Stavanger, finishing with 16½ points after ten rounds of play. The Ukrainian grandmaster entered the final day as the sole leader and confirmed her win by drawing both games against Vaishali Rameshbabu. Lei Tingjie and Humpy Koneru completed the podium, while Muzychuk ended as the only undefeated player in classical chess across both tournament sections. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Lei climbs to second place
Anna Muzychuk clinched outright victory in the second edition of the Norway Chess Women tournament, held in parallel with the super-elite open event in Stavanger. Featuring the same number of players, identical format and equal prize fund as the open section, the women's tournament concluded on Friday after ten rounds of competition.
Muzychuk entered the final round as the sole leader, two points ahead of Humpy Koneru, following a crucial classical win over Ju Wenjun the previous day. Facing Vaishali Rameshbabu with the white pieces in the last round, Muzychuk drew both the classical and Armageddon games, scoring 1 point to reach a final tally of 16½.
At that stage, a classical win by Humpy would have tied her with Muzychuk, but she was also held to a draw - first in the classical game, and then in Armageddon against Ju. This left the Ukrainian grandmaster alone in first place.
The standout result of the round, apart from the title-deciding matchups, was Lei Tingjie's tenacious win over Sara Khadem. The Chinese grandmaster, playing black, converted a difficult (objectively drawn) endgame after 103 moves in a setup featuring a bishop and four pawns against a rook and two pawns.
Khadem v. Lei
This technical endgame was reached on move 60 - Lei only grabbed the win on move 103, after Khadem had faltered decisively on move 74
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.
The win was Lei's third in classical chess in Stavanger - all of them achieved in the final four rounds. Back-to-back victories in rounds nine and ten allowed her to leapfrog Humpy and finish in sole second place with 16 points, only half a point behind Muzychuk.
Humpy, who had led the tournament at various stages, finished third with 15 points, having collected three classical wins, two classical losses and two Armageddon victories overall.
Final standings
Rk
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
1
Anna Muzychuk
UKR
2526
16½
2
Lei Tingjie
CHN
2552
16
3
Humpy Koneru
IND
2543
15
4
Ju Wenjun
CHN
2580
13½
5
Vaishali R
IND
2475
11
6
Sara Khadem
SPA
2449
9
Lei Tingjie had a great second half at the event in Stavanger | Photo: Michal Walusza
Indian star Humpy Koneru, who led at various points during the tournament, finished third | Photo: Michal Walusza
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
Ju Wenjun could not repeat the formidable performance that gave her overall victory in the event's inaugural edition | Photo: Michal Walusza
A very successful semester for Muzychuk
The tournament capped an impressive run of results for Anna Muzychuk in the first half of 2025. The 35-year-old from Lviv previously won the Nicosia Grand Prix in March and the Grosslobming Grand Prix in May. Despite this, she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Women’s Candidates Tournament via the Grand Prix series, later commenting that it had never been "so sad to win an event". Muzychuk still has multiple potential qualification routes, including the Women's World Cup, the Women's Grand Swiss, and the recently established FIDE Women's Series.
In Stavanger, Muzychuk was the only player across both sections to finish undefeated in classical play. Her score included two wins and eight draws in classical games, supplemented by five wins and three losses in the Armageddon tiebreakers.
Muzychuk's classical results mirrored her strong performance in the inaugural 2024 edition, where she also posted eight draws and two wins in classical games. However, her four Armageddon wins last year meant she ended with a score of 16 points, at a 3-point distance of convincing tournament winner Ju Wenjun.
This year, Muzychuk improved her total to 16½ points, enough for clear first place. Her performance in Stavanger gained her 9.1 rating points in classical chess, moving her into sixth place in the live women's world rankings.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
The champion interviewed by local media | Photo: Michal Walusza
Anna Muzychuk signing a young fan's chess-themed t-shirt | Photo: Michal Walusza
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos 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.
6/6/2025 – All three classical games ended decisively in round nine of the Norway Chess Women tournament, leading to a major shift at the top of the standings. Anna Muzychuk defeated defending champion Ju Wenjun to overtake Humpy Koneru, who lost to Lei Tingjie after misplaying a winning position. Sara Khadem also prevailed in her game against Vaishali Rameshbabu. With one round to go, Muzychuk holds a two-point lead going into her final game with the white pieces. | Photo: Michal Walusza
6/2/2025 – Anna Muzychuk joined Humpy Koneru in the lead at the Norway Chess Women tournament after winning her Armageddon game in round six, while Humpy was defeated by Vaishali Rameshbabu in the tiebreaker. Ju Wenjun and Vaishali, who secured 1½ points with Armageddon wins, remain close behind the co-leaders in the standings. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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