Norway Chess Women: Ju grabs the sole lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/3/2025 – Ju Wenjun took the sole lead at the Norway Chess Women tournament after claiming her first classical win of the event against Sara Khadem in round seven. Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk drew both their games, allowing Muzychuk, who had the black pieces, to collect 1½ points. Lei Tingjie also notched her first classical victory by beating Vaishali Rameshbabu. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Ju and Lei obtain first classical wins

Ju Wenjun became the sole leader of the Norway Chess Women tournament after scoring her first classical win of the event in round seven. The women's world champion defeated Sara Khadem with the white pieces, collecting 3 points and thus overtaking previous co-leaders Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk.

Humpy and Koneru faced each other on Monday and drew both their classical and Armageddon games, which allowed Muzychuk, who had the black pieces, to earn 1½ points and stay within striking distance of the top.

Standings after round 7

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Ju Wenjun CHN 2580 11½
2 Anna Muzychuk UKR 2526 11
3 Humpy Koneru IND 2543 10½
4 Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 9
5 Vaishali R IND 2475 8
6 Sara Khadem SPA 2449 6

Anna Muzychuk

Anna Muzychuk stands in sole second place | Photo: Michal Walusza

Ju's win over Khadem was decided in a technical position with queens, rooks, and bishops of opposite colours. A key moment came on move 42, when Khadem erred with 42...Qd2. A more tenacious defence would have started with 42...Qa5, defending the f5-pawn.

Ju capitalised with 43.Be6 Qe2 44.Bxf5+, gaining a tempo while grabbing a pawn. Despite her material advantage, Ju needed precision to convert the win, which she finally secured on move 73, marking a strong performance in her seventh mini-match of the event.

Ju Wenjun, Sara Khadem

Ju Wenjun v. Sara Khadem | Photo: Michal Walusza

Lei Tingjie also scored her first classical win in Stavanger, defeating Vaishali Rameshbabu with the white pieces. The Chinese grandmaster gained a slight initiative out of the Giuoco Piano and gradually built up pressure through the middlegame.

In a closely contested encounter, she outmanoeuvred her opponent and emerged victorious after 46 moves.

Lei Tingjie

Lei Tingjie | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

Links

Topics: Ju Wenjun, 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.