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 |
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

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.
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. These DVDs contain all you need to know to play the King's Gambit.

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.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.

Lei Tingjie | Photo: Michal Walusza
All games - Classical
All games - Armageddon
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