Norway Chess Women: Muzychuk grabs classical win over Humpy, leads

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/28/2025 – Anna Muzychuk took the sole lead at the Norway Chess Women tournament after scoring the only classical win of round two, defeating Humpy Koneru with white. Lei Tingjie and Ju Wenjun both secured Armageddon victories with the black pieces, against Vaishali Rameshbabu and Sara Khadem, respectively. Muzychuk now leads with 4½ points, while Humpy and Lei share second place on 3 points. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Muzychuk sole leader

Anna Muzychuk climbed to sole first place in the Norway Chess Women tournament by defeating Humpy Koneru in the only classical victory of the second round. With 4½ points, Muzychuk now leads the standings ahead of both Humpy and Lei Tingjie, who share second place on 3 points.

Lei scored her second consecutive Armageddon win, this time against Vaishali Rameshbabu. In the remaining matchup, Ju Wenjun got the better of Sara Khadem in the tiebreaker after drawing with the black pieces in the classical portion.

Standings after round 2

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Anna Muzychuk UKR 2526 4½
2 Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 3
3 Humpy Koneru IND 2543 3
4 Ju Wenjun CHN 2580 2½
5 Sara Khadem SPA 2449 2
6 Vaishali R IND 2475 1

Lei Tingjie

Lei Tingjie has twice prevailed in Armageddon | Photo: Michal Walusza

For a second day running, Muzychuk had the white pieces, and once again showed strong preparation in the opening. Against Humpy, the Ukrainan GM gradually built up pressure, entering a major-piece endgame (queen and two rooks per side) with the more active pieces and the safer king. Despite the material balance, Muzychuk held the clear advantage and managed to win a pawn amidst tactical complications.

Both players were in time trouble by move 41, when Muzychuk missed a clear tactical shot. Instead of 41.Kh1, which stepped aside from a potential discovered check but lacked punch, the immediate 41.Ra8 was winning.

The threat of mate on h8 forces concessions, and defensive tries like 41...Rce5 are met by 42.f4 Qc3 43.Qxc3 bxc3 44.fxe5, giving White a decisive advantage.

Even after missing that, Muzychuk remained a pawn up, and a further miscalculation by Humpy on move 56 sealed her fate: 56...Qxe4 turned out to be a losing queen trade, when 56...Qc3 would have kept drawing chances.

In the ensuing pawn endgame, Muzychuk demonstrated excellent technique. A particularly elegant moment came on move 61, when 61.g3 all but forced 61...Kxe5 62.Ke3, securing the opposition and the win.

Humpy resigned after Muzychuk's 72nd move.

Humpy Koneru

Humpy Koneru was the only player to score a classical win in the first round of the event | Photo: Michal Walusza

The remaining two encounters were decided in Armageddon. Lei Tingjie played the Petroff Defence twice on Tuesday, holding Vaishali Rameshbabu to a draw in classical and Armageddon formats, thus gaining 1½ points.

Ju Wenjun, on her part, faced Sara Khadem with black. After drawing in the classical section, Ju won their sudden-death game in convincing fashion. The final sequence saw 43...Rxf2+ prompting resignation.

44.Kxf2 allows 44...Ne4+, winning the queen on d8.

Sara Khadem, Ju Wenjun

Sara Khadem admits defeat after seeing the fine tactical shot played by Ju Wenjun | Photo: Michal Waluszha

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

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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.