Norway Chess Women: Vaishali Rameshbabu takes down women's world champion; Koneru Humpy surges into lead

Indian Express

2 days ago

It was on the first rest day of the Norway Chess tournament that Koneru Humpy couldn't stop grinning. She had tried her hand at rifle shooting among other things at a ranch during the Norway Chess Games, and had managed to hit a bullseye. Humpy was so chuffed at that shot that she had asked for the paper target as a keepsake.
In two days, Humpy just might leave Norway's Stavanger with something more precious: the women's title at the super-elite championship. The 38-year-old surged into the lead on the second rest day of the Norway Chess women's tournament, staying one full point ahead of women's world champion Ju Wenjun and Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk.
Humpy took down Spain's Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (better known as Sara Khadem) in the classical portion for the second time in the tournament to get three points in round 8 on Wednesday. And she had compatriot Vaishali Rameshbabu to thank for giving her the one point cushion, as India's latest woman to become a grandmaster had held on for a draw against the women's world champion from China, Ju Wenjun, before defeating her in the Armageddon. The format of Armageddon is such that the player with white pieces needs to win with 10 minutes on their clock while the player with black pieces has seven minutes to hold on to a draw.
Humpy took a slender edge from the 22nd move (22. Bd3 Nc5) and never relinquished her grip on the game against the only International Master in the field of six women. Sara erred on move 35 (playing 35. Rd2 when engines showed that 35. e5 was the best move available). That move had given Humpy a significant edge and India's first woman to become a grandmaster wasn't going to miss. She remained a pawn up until the 58th move when the resignation arrived from Sara.
Humpy now has Ju and another former world champion Lei Tingjie standing in her path to winning the title at Norway Chess.
Vaishali held women's world champion Ju Wenjun to a draw with white pieces, which was a significant result considering the two players have a gulf of 99 rating points separating them. A game that saw the Berlin Defense in Ruy Lopez being employed never really heated up. For 37 moves from both players, the eval bar had its quietest night, never really needing to go this way or that.
Then, in the Armageddon, with Vaishali needing to win with white pieces, both players played out the exact same 12 moves that they had played in the classical section. But on her 13th move, Ju opted to push forward her c pawn instead of putting pressure on Vaishali's ambitious knight with her bishop. The game ambled along without any player having an edge till the 32nd move, when Vaishali allowed Ju to pick off a pawn without any compensation. But on the next move, Vaishali pushed her own pawn on the f5 square (33.f5) which was her first significant breakthrough. Four moves later, Vaishali's pawn was bearing down on her king while two rooks and Vaishali's queen were standing as sentries on the three files at the end of the board to cut off escape lines. Ju resigned to give Vaishali a morale-boosting win.
Vaishali is fifth in the six-women standings, just half a point behind Lei, with two rounds remaining.
(The writer is in Stavanger at the invitation of Norway Chess. Matches are live-streamed on Sony LIV.)
Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More