Norway Chess Women: Humpy and Muzychuk share the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/29/2025 – Round three of the Norway Chess Women tournament saw Humpy Koneru join Anna Muzychuk in the lead after scoring a classical win over Sara Khadem. Muzychuk, meanwhile, held a draw with black in her Armageddon game against Lei Tingjie and thus secured 1½ points. In the third matchup, Ju Wenjun defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu in a tiebreak after drawing their classical encounter. Ju and Lei now share third place, two points behind the co-leaders. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Humpy beats Khadem in classical chess

Round three of the Norway Chess Women tournament saw one classical game decided and two matchups resolved in Armageddon.

Humpy Koneru scored a convincing win over Sara Khadem with the white pieces, allowing her to catch Anna Muzychuk at the top of the standings with 6 points each. Muzychuk, who defeated Humpy in classical play the previous day, added 1½ points to her tally by overcoming Lei Tingjie in a tiebreak after drawing their classical game.

Ju Wenjun also collected 1½ points, defeating Vaishali Rameshbabu in Armageddon following a drawn classical encounter. With three rounds completed, Ju and Lei, the highest-rated players in the field, are tied for third place on 4 points each.

Standings after round 3

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

Ju Wenjun, Vaishali Rameshbabu

Ju Wenjun playing white against Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza

Humpy Koneru secured the only classical win of the day with a well-executed victory over Sara Khadem. Playing with white, the Indian grandmaster obtained a clear initiative on the kingside straight out of the opening, as her opponent struggled with an exposed king and uncoordinated pieces.

The positional pressure steadily built in Humpy's favour, culminating in a good-looking exchange sacrifice. With 37.Re6, she invited her opponent to open the centre, which led to her exploiting the central pawns.

After 37...Bxe6 (37...Qa4 was a worse alternative due to 38.Ne4), the game continued 38.fxe6 Ng5 39.Bg2 Ba5 40.Qe3 Bb6. At this stage, White’s position was dominant, with connected central passers ready to march.

Humpy completed her breakthrough with 41.e7 Rfe8 42.d6, creating unstoppable threats. The connected e- and d-pawns, supported by the pieces, were too strong, and Khadem resigned. With this win, Humpy moves into joint first place with Anna Muzychuk.

Sara Khadem

Sara Khadem | Photo: Michal Walusza

Anna Muzychuk and Lei Tingjie drew their classical game in just 21 moves, but their Armageddon decider provided a lengthy and tense battle. The tiebreak featured a queenless middlegame in which Lei, with the white pieces, had more active forces and a passed pawn on the queenside.

However, the Chinese grandmaster missed a chance to increase the pressure on the kingside. On move 23, she played the natural-looking 23.c4, but a more probing plan with 23.Bc4, targeting f7, would have given her better prospects.

The structure created by c4 and the bishop on b5 allowed Black, despite having less space, to consolidate and defend effectively.

As the game progressed, the position simplified into a rook endgame with three pawns per side. Lei continued probing until move 74, but Muzychuk defended with precision throughout. By securing the draw with the black pieces, Muzychuk won the mini-match and added 1½ points to her total, maintaining her position at the top of the standings.

Anna Muzychuk

Co-leader Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

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Topics: Anna Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru, Norway Chess 2025
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.
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Norway Chess Women: Muzychuk grabs classical win over Humpy, leads

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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Norway Chess Women: Humpy gets only classical win in first round

5/27/2025 – The opening round of the 2025 Norway Chess women’s tournament featured one classical win and two Armageddon deciders. Humpy Koneru secured the full three points after defeating compatriot Vaishali Rameshbabu, while Lei Tingjie and Anna Muzychuk each claimed 1½ points by winning their tiebreaks against Ju Wenjun and Sara Khadem, respectively. | Photo: Michal Walusza

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