Norway Chess Women: Muzychuk catches Humpy in the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
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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All matchups go to Armageddon

All three classical games ended drawn in round six of the Norway Chess Women tournament, with Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Ju Wenjun prevailing in Armageddon to collect 1½ points each. These results led to a shift at the top of the standings, as Muzychuk moved up to share first place with Humpy Koneru on 9½ points.

Ju Wenjun, who has not played a single decisive classical game so far, continued her strong run in the tiebreaks. With her fifth Armageddon win out of six mini-matches, she now stands just one point behind the two co-leaders. Vaishali also maintained her upward momentum, defeating Sara Khadem in Armageddon to reach 8 points. After a slow start to the event, she has now won mini-matches against both Muzychuk and Humpy, and also claimed a classical victory against Khadem earlier in the tournament.

The standings remain tightly packed with four rounds to go, and round seven will feature the direct clash between co-leaders Humpy and Muzychuk. Humpy will have the white pieces in a game that, due to the scoring system in place, is guaranteed to produce a point difference between the two. With Ju and Vaishali close behind, and several rounds still to be played, the outcome of the tournament is far from decided.

Standings after round 6

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Humpy Koneru IND 2543
Anna Muzychuk UKR 2526
3 Ju Wenjun CHN 2580
4 Vaishali R IND 2475 8
5 Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 6
Sara Khadem SPA 2449 6

Sara Khadem, Anna Muzychuk

Sara Khadem facing Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Michal Walusza

Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu prevailed in the all-Indian confrontation against co-leader Humpy Koneru | Photo: Michal Walusza

Ju 1-0 Lei

Analysis by André Schulz

Ju, Wenjun25801–0Lei, Tingjie2552
Norway Chess Women Armageddon 2025
Stavanger01.06.2025[Schulz,A]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Re1 d6 7.a3 Be6 8.Bxe6 fxe6 9.b4 b5 10.c3 h6 11.Nbd2 a5 12.Bb2 axb4 13.axb4 Qd7 14.Qb3 Rfe8 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 d5 17.e5 Nh7 18.Bc3 Rf8 19.Reb1 Ng5 20.h3 Nxf3+ 21.Nxf3
21...Rae8 21...Ra4 22.Rxa4 bxa4 23.Qxa4 Nxe5= 22.Qc2 Rf4 23.Qd3 Nd8 24.Bd2 Rf5 25.Rc1 c6 26.Ne1 Ref8 27.f3 Bh4 28.Nc2 Qf7 29.Qe2 29.f4 Qd7 30.g3 Be7 31.Ra8 White is clearly more active. 29...Bg5 30.Ra8 Bxd2 31.Qxd2 Qg6 32.Kh2 h5 33.Ne3 Rf4
34.Nxd5?! The combination works, but it doesn't achieve anything. 34.Rca1+- 34...exd5 35.Rxd8 Rxf3 36.Rxf8+ Rxf8= 37.Rc3 h4 38.Qe1 Qg5 39.e6 Qf4+ 40.Kh1 Qd6 41.e7 Re8 42.Re3 Kf7 43.Qf2+ Kg8 44.Qxh4 Qxb4 45.Qg5 45.Re6 Qb1+ 46.Kh2 Qf5= 45...Qd6 46.h4 b4 47.h5 b3 48.Rxb3 Qxe7 49.Qg4 Qe1+ 50.Kh2 Qe6 51.Qg5 Qf6 52.Qxf6 gxf6 53.Rc3 Re6 54.g4 Kg7 55.Kg3
55...Kh6? Now the white king penetrates the black position. White is winning. 55...Re4= 55...Re1 56.Rxc6 Rg1+ 57.Kf4 Rf1+= 56.Kf4 Re4+ 56...Re1 57.Kf5 Rf1+ 58.Ke6 Rf4 59.Rxc6 Rxg4 60.Kxf6 Kxh5 61.Ke5 and White wins. 57.Kf5 Rxd4 58.Rxc6 Rd1 59.Rxf6+ Kg7 60.Rg6+ Kf7 61.Rd6 d4 62.h6 Rf1+ 63.Kg5 Rd1 64.Rd7+ Ke6 65.h7 Rh1 66.Ra7 d3 67.Ra6+ Ke5 68.Ra5+ Ke4 69.Ra4+ Ke3 70.Ra7 d2 71.Re7+ Kd3 72.Rd7+ Ke3 73.Kg6 d1Q 74.Rxd1 Rxd1 75.h8Q
1–0

Ju Wenjun

Women's world champion Ju Wenjun | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

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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.
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