Ju and Muzychuk share second place

Humpy Koneru is once again the sole leader at the Norway Chess Women tournament in Stavanger after scoring the only classical win of round eight. The experienced Indian grandmaster defeated Sara Khadem for a second time in the event. Her victory, worth 3 points under the tournament’s scoring system, brought her tally to 13½ points — a full point ahead of Anna Muzychuk and Ju Wenjun.

Muzychuk, who defeated Lei Tingjie in the Armageddon, picked up 1½ points, while Ju lost ground after being defeated by Vaishali Rameshbabu in the tiebreaker.

Humpy is set to face both Lei and Ju - the two top seeds - in the final two rounds. Wednesday is a rest day in Stavanger.

Standings after round 8

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Young fans getting their chessboards autographed by Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Michal Walusza

The classical game between Humpy and Khadem saw the Indian star, playing black, gradually gaining the upper hand from a positionally favourable setup.

Out of an English Opening, Humpy coordinated her pieces effectively and benefitted from White's necessity to push 20.f3, a weakening move that created a permanent target on e3 while also compromising the safety of White's king.

The positional pressure mounted as Khadem was soon forced to give up the bishop pair. On move 35, Humpy captured a pawn and later simplified into a bishop endgame, where she maintained a stable advantage.

As both players entered time trouble, Humpy momentarily lost the thread and gave Khadem a narrow drawing chance.

52.a6! is the way to defend, since after Kd5 White has the surprising 53.Bc3 and Black cannot capture on c3 due to a6-a7, while after 53...Be3 54.h5 (diagram), White can hold the balance by fixing her opponent's kingside pawns on dark squares.

How to Avoid Mistakes and Boost Your Winning Rate

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.

However, Khadem missed the resource and played 52.Bf8 instead, after which Black's active king dominated the queenside pawn race and Humpy secured the win.

Sara Khadem facing Humpy Koneru | Photo: Michal Walusza

Muzychuk and Lei played a 31-move draw in their classical game, entering an Armageddon decider that proved far livelier. Out of a Ruy Lopez, Leig got an edge with the black pieces, but was a bit too ambitious with 25...Rxf3, sacrificing an exchange to get open lines and attacking prospects on the kingside.

Muzychuk responded coolly and took the material, and from there demonstrated accurate tactical calculation to neutralise Lei's activity.

The Ukrainian GM then began pushing her army forward, and her 31.e6 was one of the many precise moves she found while converting her advantage in style.

King's Indian Attack - Simple. Flexible. Dynamic.

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

Lei was soon left without enough compensation, and Muzychuk completed the conversion with confident play to grab 1½ points.

Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Michal Walusza

In the final matchup, Vaishali Rameshbabu overcame Ju Wenjun in the tiebreaker after a short classical draw. The Armageddon game remained balanced until Vaishali, with white, advanced on the kingside and found the right moment to break open the position.

After 33.f5 Rxb2 34.fxe6 Rxc2 35.exf7+ Kg7 36.Rf1, Ju was left with a completely exposed king and an irreparable position.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

Following 36...Qe7, the decisive blow came with 37.Rxg6+, a discovered attack against the queen on e7 that sealed the deal.

Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

All games - Armageddon

Links

• Official site
• Magnus Carlsen wins sixth Norway Chess title (2024)
• Ju Wenjun triumphant at inaugural Norway Chess Women event (2024)
• Nakamura beats Caruana to win Norway Chess (2023)
• Magnus Carlsen wins Norway Chess for a fourth straight time (2022)
• Carlsen wins Norway Chess, Firouzja shines (2021)