Norway Chess Women 2025 – Round 8: Ju Wenjun vs R Vaishali
In a high-stakes Round 8 clash at Norway Chess Women 2025, reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun takes on India’s rising star R Vaishali. Ju, who leads the tournament with 11.5 points, is coming off her first classical victory of the event against Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, while Vaishali, currently on 8 points, suffered a setback in the previous round with a loss to Lei Tingjie. In this encounter, Vaishali will have the white pieces.
Ju Wenjun, World No. 2 and four-time Women’s World Champion, continues to dominate the women’s circuit as the reigning World Blitz Champion, a two-time World Rapid Champion, and the defending Norway Chess Women Champion. With a peak rating of 2600 and an official FIDE rating of 2580 as of May 2025, she remains one of the most formidable players in the world.
Vaishali, ranked World No. 16, has had an impressive rise in recent years. Winner of the 2023 FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss and a bronze medalist at the 2024 Women’s World Blitz Championship, she holds a FIDE rating of 2475. Her accolades also include the prestigious Arjuna Award and an Olympiad gold with Team India in 2024.
Vaishali started with her king pawn to two squares. Will she be able to take down the World Champion today?
Wenjun replied the same, so it's a king pawn opening on the board! Let's see which way the game heads.
The white knight is already out from the kingside—now it's up to Ju to choose the line.
Ju entered the main variation by developing her queenside knight to defend the e-pawn, and now it's Vaishali’s turn to choose the main opening line.
Vaishali played the most popular line, with her light-squared bishop directly eyeing the black queenside knight.
Black continued with opening development without worrying about her central pawn, correctly bringing out the kingside knight.
White completed kingside castling as early as move four!
It’s a Berlin Defense variation from Ju—she captured the white central pawn with her knight!
Vaishali immediately took advantage of the early castling and brought her rook to the e-file, attacking the black knight and aiming to recover the pawn soon.
Ju moved her knight to the center on the 6th rank, also attacking the white bishop!
Vaishali captured the black central e-pawn with Knight, equalizing the material once again. Although the white bishop is hanging, capturing it could be a major blunder for Black, as it would allow a devastating discovered attack that could decide the game instantly.
Ju brought her dark-squared bishop in front of the king and is now fully ready to castle.
Now that Ju has neutralized the threat against her king, Vaishali brings her bishop back to its original square.
The first minor piece capture on the board—Ju captured the white knight with her knight! This position has been seen in almost 4000 games in the database, making it a well-established line.
Vaishali continued with the only possible forced move, capturing the black knight with her rook and equalizing the material once again.
Ju completed her development with kingside castling—now both players have castled on the kingside.
Vaishali gained space in the center with a two-square push of her d-pawn, also opening the diagonal for her dark-squared bishop.
Ju played her dark-squared bishop to the long diagonal with tempo, forcing the white rook to vacate the central square.
Vaishali brought her rook back to the first rank!
Wenjun moved her knight from the d-file to reposition the piece and also aimed to open the locked pawns in front of her central pawn, while simultaneously gaining tempo by joining her bishop in attacking White's d-pawn.
White played her c-pawn one square forward to support the center and open the diagonal for the queen to enter the queenside if needed.
The World Champion claimed space in the center with her d-pawn’s two-square advance, also opening up a path for her light-squared bishop to enter the game.
Vaishali pushed the a-pawn two squares forward, aiming to gain space on the queenside.
Wenjun also claimed space equally by pushing her a-pawn two squares forward.
Vaishali brings her dark-squared bishop into the game along the standard h2–b8 diagonal.
After nine minutes of thought, the World Champion placed her bishop on the g-file, offering a trade with White's dark-squared bishop.
Vaishali played a new move by bringing her queen to the f-file to support her bishop. In earlier games from this position, White typically played the queen to c1, forcing Black to capture the bishop.
Ju decided to exchange the bishops, taking the game back into a previously played line—one in which GM Kovaliov defeated GM Thybo with the white pieces.
Vaishali recaptured the bishop with her queen—once again, there is just one game in the database featuring this line.
The World Champion now offered a queen exchange to Vaishali. Ju knows Vaishali’s playing style and wants to avoid giving her any active chances with the queen.
Vaishali declined the exchange and moved her queen back to the same square as before. Once again, this is a new move—now the game enters completely uncharted territory in this variation.
After thinking for more than 20 minutes, Ju brought out her bishop, placing it just behind the queen and connecting her rooks, inviting them into the game.
Vaishali brought her knight out from the corner file, offering a temporary pawn sacrifice and looking to jump ahead on the b-file.
Wenjun played her c-pawn to stop the white knight’s jump, also closing the bishop’s short diagonal—but in doing so, she further strengthened her center.
Vaishali brought her bishop back into the game with tempo, attacking the black knight and also eyeing the kingside with x-ray vision.
Ju firmly believed her knight was well-placed and pushed the g-pawn to provide extra support. While this move weakens the dark squares around her king, White is currently unable to capitalize on it.
Vaishali stepped up her rook to the second rank, aiming to bring both rooks into action and vacating the square for her other rook to join the e-file.
Ju brought her rook to the e-file—are we about to see some exchanges?
White doubled the rooks as planned—now let’s see who initiates the exchange first.
Ju retreated her knight next to the king, providing extra support to the rook and signaling readiness for an exchange—while carefully avoiding any structural damage.
Vaishali brought her knight from the corner back into the game—now all of White's pieces are activated.
Ju brought her other rook to the e-file for an exchange—are we heading toward a queen and minor pieces endgame soon?
Vaishali took back with her only rook—material is equal now, with White having temporary control of the e-file.
Ju brought her other rook to the e-file for an exchange—are we heading toward a queen and minor pieces endgame soon?
Vaishali accepted the exchange offer, capturing the black rook with check—soon there will be no rooks left on the board.
Black took back with the knight! It’s just 23 moves in, and the position is completely equal—with only three pieces and seven pawns each on the board.
Vaishali struck from the queenside, pushing her b-pawn two squares forward.
Ju responded by pushing her b-pawn one square forward to support the a-pawn, keeping the tension on the queenside.
Vaishali switched her queen to the open e-file, possibly looking to expand with her pawns on the kingside.
Ju brought her knight back to the g-file, possibly aiming to jump to the f-file and return to a previously used square.
Vaishali continued her plan by expanding with her kingside pawns. She played her g-pawn one square forward—soon the f-pawn may follow.
Ju brought another exchange offer to the board—supported by her knight, she placed her bishop directly in front of White's bishop.
White finally broke the queenside tension with a pawn exchange on the a-file.
Black took back the pawn with the only available move. Now both sides have isolated pawns on the a-file, and the b-file is open.
Now Vaishali captured the black bishop, accepting the exchange offer.
Ju took back with the knight—the only and best possible move.
White's queen entered Black's camp with a check, vacating the square for her own knight.
Vaishali brought her knight to the center, adding one more exchange offer to the position.
Ju accepted the offer, marking the departure of the last minor piece in the game.
Vaishali took back the piece with the queen—it’s a fully equal queen and pawn endgame. Are we heading for yet another Armageddon?
Black pushed the h-pawn, taking space—a standard approach in king and queen pawn endgames.
White's queen entered Black’s camp once again, maintaining control of the e-file and keeping options open to invade either the queenside or kingside at any moment.
Ju pushed her c-pawn, preparing for more pawn exchanges. White accepted the offer, and as Ju recaptures with her queen, Vaishali will seize the moment to begin a perpetual check sequence, steering the game toward a draw.
White took advantage of the black queen’s absence from the center and started what appears to be a likely perpetual check.
Ju captured the pawn with her queen, but this now allows White’s queen to start delivering perpetual checks.
Vaishali begins the checks, forcing the black king to move.
Ju steps back to the corner, trying to escape.
Another precise check from Vaishali.
The black king comes forward again.
White repeats the check, keeping up the pressure.
Ju is left with no choice but to return to the same squareand with no way to escape the perpetual, the game ends in a draw on the next move.
The Round 8 classical encounter between World Champion Ju Wenjun and India’s R Vaishali ended in a draw after a balanced queen and pawn endgame. This is the second time in Norway Chess Women 2025 that both players have drawn in classical format—Vaishali had earlier held Ju to a draw with the black pieces in Round 3, and this time she repeated the feat with white.
The game began with the Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense. Both players followed well-known theory, with Vaishali playing a novelty in the early middlegame. The position remained equal throughout, with neither side taking unnecessary risks. Ju was especially cautious, clearly aiming to avoid giving Vaishali any counterplay.
After a series of exchanges, the game transitioned into a symmetrical queen and pawn endgame where perpetual check led to a draw. Now, all eyes turn to the Armageddon tiebreak, where Ju had convincingly defeated Vaishali with the white pieces in their previous encounter. Will Vaishali strike back this time?
Stay tuned—the Armageddon is coming!