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Round four of the Norway Chess Women tournament in Stavanger featured one classical win and two decisive Armageddon games.
The main shift in the standings came from Sara Khadem's classical victory over Lei Tingjie, which earned her 3 points and lifted her to fourth place, just half a point behind Ju Wenjun.
Meanwhile, the tournament co-leaders, Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru, both lost their mini-matches in Armageddon. Vaishali Rameshbabu prevailed against Muzychuk after a short classical draw, while Ju Wenjun beat Humpy following a longer classical encounter.
Muzychuk and Humpy remain in shared first place on 7 points apiece, with a rest day scheduled for Friday.
Standings after round 4
| Rk | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | Anna Muzychuk | UKR | 2526 | 7 |
| Humpy Koneru | IND | 2543 | 7 | |
| 3 | Ju Wenjun | CHN | 2580 | 5½ |
| 4 | Sara Khadem | SPA | 2449 | 5 |
| 5 | Lei Tingjie | CHN | 2552 | 4 |
| 6 | Vaishali R | IND | 2475 | 3½ |
Vaishali signing an autograph for a young chess enthusiast | Photo: Michal Walusza
The only decisive classical game of the day saw Sara Khadem defeating Lei Tingjie with the black pieces. The game followed a sharp line in the Italian Opening, where Black pushes h6 and g5 early - a setup previously used by players such as Vincent Keymer and Alexey Sarana. Black did not find the most suitable plan for this setup, so it was Lei who came out of the opening with a clear advantage.
White generated threats on the kingside and was soon able to simplify into a favourable rook and bishop versus rook and knight endgame.
With the queens traded off, engines evaluated the position as clearly better for Lei - at one point giving White an advantage of +2. However, the technical task of converting this advantage was not straightforward.
Khadem defended resourcefully, posing practical problems as Lei's clock wound down. As both players began to rely on increments, the pressure told. On move 57 it was, in fact, Lei who erred with the losing move 57.Bf6+
Khadem responded confidently with 57...Kf7, and after 58.bxa3 (White needs to capture the pawn, or she will have trouble dealing with it later on) Nd5, White's rook and bishop were suddenly caught in a deadly fork.
With 59.Rb5 Nxf6 60.Rxa5, Khadem emerged with an extra piece, and although Lei had a queenside passer, it was not enough to counterbalance Black's material advantage. Khadem secured the full point eleven moves later, marking her first win of the event.
Lei Tingjie | Photo: Michal Walusza
Following a short 14-move draw in the classical game, Vaishali Rameshbabu went on to defeat Anna Muzychuk in Armageddon. Reflecting on her approach, Vaishali explained, "I just keep fighting all the time, and because of that, I've lost many games". On this occasion, the decision to conserve energy and go straight into the decider paid off.
The Armageddon encounter was double-edged, with Muzychuk obtaining strong winning chances in the middlegame. Vaishali, however, kept creating tactical complications and made the most of her opportunities in the time scramble.
As the clock approached critical levels - with both players under 20 seconds - Muzychuk blundered with 45...Qxe2, overlooking a mate-in-one threat.
The correct defensive move was 45...Re7, which would have kept the fight alive. Vaishali immediately found 46.Qxf7#, bringing the game to an abrupt end.
Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza
Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru played a longer classical game, which ended in a draw after 47 moves. The contest was then decided in Armageddon, where Ju, playing white, built up a direct kingside attack to take down the co-leader.
Already on move 17, Ju posed a concrete mating threat on g7, and Humpy's defensive response, 17...Bf8, proved inaccurate - 17...g6 would have offered more resistance.
Although Ju did not always find the most forceful continuations, she kept the initiative and gradually increased the pressure. By move 25, White's three minor pieces had all joined the attack, and the position was already critical - 25.Be6+ set up a forced mate-in-eight.
Humpy's pieces on the queenside remained passive throughout, unable to participate in the defence. Four moves later, faced with unstoppable threats, the Indian GM resigned.
Women's world champion Ju Wenjun | Photo: Michal Walusza
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