Norway Chess Women: Muzychuk beats Ju, tops the standings

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/6/2025 – All three classical games ended decisively in round nine of the Norway Chess Women tournament, leading to a major shift at the top of the standings. Anna Muzychuk defeated defending champion Ju Wenjun to overtake Humpy Koneru, who lost to Lei Tingjie after misplaying a winning position. Sara Khadem also prevailed in her game against Vaishali Rameshbabu. With one round to go, Muzychuk holds a two-point lead going into her final game with the white pieces. | Photo: Michal Walusza
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Three decisive results in classical chess

Round nine of the Norway Chess Women tournament saw a major shift at the top of the standings, as all three games ended decisively in classical play. Anna Muzychuk took the lead with a crucial win over defending champion Ju Wenjun, while former sole leader Humpy Koneru was defeated by Lei Tingjie after misplaying from a winning position. In the remaining game, Sara Khadem scored her second classical win of the event, defeating Vaishali Rameshbabu with the black pieces.

Muzychuk, who had entered the round trailing Humpy by one point, now stands alone atop the standings with one round to go. Her win over Ju allowed her to leapfrog both Humpy and the Chinese representative in one go. Meanwhile, Lei’s victory over Humpy halted the leader's momentum and kept her own hopes alive.

In the final round, Muzychuk will face Vaishali with the white pieces, while Humpy and Ju are set to play one another.

Standings after round 9

Rk Name FED Rtg Pts
1 Anna Muzychuk UKR 2526 15½
2 Humpy Koneru IND 2543 13½
3 Lei Tingjie CHN 2552 13
4 Ju Wenjun CHN 2580 12½
5 Vaishali R IND 2475 9½
6 Sara Khadem SPA 2449 9

Sara Khadem

Sara Khadem deafeted Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza

Ju Wenjun, Anna Muzychuk

Ju Wenjun facing Anna Muzychuk in an all-important encounter | Photo: Michal Walusza

Lei Tingjie

Lei Tingjie | Photo: Michal Walusza

All games - Classical

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.