Today we cover the final Round 10 game of the Norway Chess Women’s Tournament, featuring Anna Muzychuk vs R Vaishali. Anna is leading the standings with 15.5 points, while Vaishali is currently in 5th place with 9.5 points.
Anna, playing with the white pieces, needs at least 1.5 points today to secure a clear tournament victory — meaning a win in either classical or Armageddon would do the job. However, if she loses both games, Humpy, who is currently second with 13.5 points, could surpass her and reach 16.5.
But those are just the numbers — we’ll see what happens on the board! Let’s follow the action move by move in this crucial final round.
Anna started with the king pawn opening — it will be interesting to see how the game progresses and what Vaishali’s choice will be. But one thing is clear: Anna wants to play a risk-free game today.
Vaishali also replied the same — that means the game will follow king’s pawn openings, but we’ll have to wait to see which exact line unfolds.
Anna develops her kingside knight — a standard move to control the center and attack the black e-pawn! Now the question is, what will Vaishali choose: the Petrov Defense or the classical reply with queenside knight development?
Vaishali goes for the main line, developing her queenside knight — saving her pawn and controlling the center.
Anna develops her other knight — both knights are out now. Will this turn into the Four Knights Opening?
Vaishali brings out her kingside knight — it’s officially a Four Knights Opening with king pawns, as all four knights are now developed.
Anna went for the Four Knights Spanish Variation, developing her bishop and attacking the knight on move 4.
Vaishali’s knight jumped to the center, forcing an exchange with either the bishop or the knight.
Anna accepts the offer and captures the black central knight with her knight — the first minor piece exchange and the first capture of the game.
Black takes back with her pawn, recovers the piece, and attacks the remaining white knight with tempo.
Anna goes for the main line and pushes the pawn — this position appears in at least 1000 games in the database. She’s attacking the black knight, and some exchanges are likely coming soon.
Vaishali captures the white knight with her pawn, but she’s about to lose her own knight in the next move.
Anna recovers the piece by capturing the black knight with her pawn! Material is equal, but now there’s a slight imbalance on the board.
Vaishali captures the pawn and takes out the queen!
White recaptures the pawn with her d-pawn — now there are doubled pawns on the c-file, but the d-file is semi-open for White.
Vaishali develops her bishop — she’s ready to castle and is also threatening mate in one!
Anna is clearly aiming for a risk-free game and played her queen in front of the king, giving a check to the black king!
Vaishali placed her queen between the kings, ready for an exchange and transition into the endgame.
Anna castles — now it’s up to Vaishali to decide whether she wants to exchange queens or keep them on the board! Anyway, even for that, she’ll need to wait a bit more because her queen is still pinned.
Vaishali also castled — now the same question is in Anna’s hands: will she keep the queens or go for the exchange?
Anna brings her rook to the e-file, joining the queen and putting extra pressure on Vaishali’s queen.
Vaishali does the same — she brings her rook to the e-file, joining the queen. Now her pieces are also eyeing the opponent’s pieces equally.
Anna develops her dark-squared bishop — an important lesson from the masters: develop your pieces first before going for exchanges! With this move, all of Anna’s pieces are now in the game, her rooks are connected, the back rank is better controlled, and the last rook will soon join the center.
Vaishali captures the queen — queen exchange initiated! If Anna recaptures with the rook, it could lead to more exchanges, while taking with the bishop means no immediate exchange. Let’s see what she chooses.
Anna recaptures with the bishop — material is equal, but now we’re in a rooks plus double bishop endgame.
Vaishali pushes her d-pawn one square, opening up her light-squared bishop — you can say Black has already achieved full equality. Now she’s ready to complete her development as the bishop enters the game.
Anna places her bishop on the long light diagonal, launching a discovered attack on the black rook, keeping pressure on the b-pawn, and tying down the black bishop inside. Let’s see how Vaishali answers this question — how will she continue from here?
Vaishali finds the right move — she captures the white rook on the e-file with check!
Anna takes back with the only move, saves the check, recovers the rook, and is now threatening mate in one on the black back rank!
Vaishali moves her king to stop the checkmate and prevent the rook entry. It’s an endgame, and your king should be near the center — a wise decision. Yes, she’s under some pressure on the b-pawn, but that’s something she can resolve in the coming moves.
Anna brings her king to the f-file, closer to the center! The question now is — can she improve this position in her favor?
Vaishali pushes her a-pawn, gaining space on the queenside. She can activate her bishop at any time — if White captures the b-pawn with the bishop, the black rook can recapture, launching an attack along the b-file.
White also pushes the a-pawn two squares forward, claiming equal space and stopping the advance of Black’s pawn.
Vaishali goes for a solid option, placing her rook on the b-file — protecting the pawn from White’s bishop and getting ready to develop her light-squared bishop with multiple options.
White pushes the b-pawn, supporting the a-pawn and making the structure solid!
Vaishali develops her bishop — now it looks like she might even offer a bishop exchange in the next move along the long light diagonal. Black is also eyeing a potential b-pawn push.
Anna stops Black’s idea and strengthens her structure with a c-pawn push, taking control over two important fifth-rank squares — the b- and d-files.
With White’s last move, some dark squares have been freed for Black — so the black bishop steps forward, attacking the white rook.
White saves the rook by moving it one step forward, also creating support for her c-pawn. The position is fully equal, and it’s difficult to find a clear plan to play for any initiative for either side.
Vaishali also pushes her b-pawn to support her structure! The position now features almost symmetrical pawn structures on the board.
Anna pushes her h-pawn, taking space on the kingside!
Vaishali wants to place her bishop on the long dark diagonal, moving it into the white camp with the intention to shift it to the kingside whenever needed.
Anna plays her g-pawn two squares, taking space on the kingside! According to the Norway Chess rules, players cannot agree to a draw until at least 30 moves have been made by each player. With the game heading toward a draw, both players will need to find a way to create chances and avoid a stale position. They must push for activity and seize any opportunity to break the balance.
Vaishali pushes her h-pawn to take some space and also make it available for exchange if White advances further.
Anna moves her king one step forward in order to support her pieces and the activity of pawns whenever needed.
Vaishali finally brings her rook to the open file, ready for an exchange! The game is heading towards a double bishop endgame soon.
Anna accepts the offer, as there was no better option available for the rook, and captures the rook with check.
Vaishali takes back with her king! Now, it’s officially a double bishop endgame.
Anna moves her light-squared bishop to make space for the f-pawn push and connect the pawn chain.
Vaishali starts with a pawn strike, pushing her f-pawn two squares, attacking the white g-pawn and targeting the light squares.
Anna avoids the exchange on the light-colored squares but pushes the pawn ahead, potentially leading to pawn exchanges on the dark-colored squares.
Black captures the pawn with the h-pawn, taking the g-pawn!
Anna recaptures the pawn with her bishop. Now, she has one isolated pawn on the h-file and one on the f-file, but her dark-squared bishop is definitely more active. The position is fully equal.
Vaishali brings her light-squared bishop to the long diagonal, delivering a check against the white king. Now, the question is: will Anna move the king, or will she exchange bishops?
Anna is ready for the exchange and deploys her bishop in between the check! Let’s see what Vaishali will do next.
Vaishali captures with check — now the game is heading toward a dark bishop and king-pawn endgame.
Anna recaptures the piece with her king, which was the only move. The game is definitely heading for a draw, but the players will have to wait until move 30 before they can agree to it.
Vaishali steps up her king to cover the light squares — now the responsibility of the kings increases on both sides!
Anna pushes her h-pawn with the intention to exchange it in the next move.
Vaishali marches her king forward! The king is now in the center, supporting her f-pawn.
Anna moves her bishop to the 8th rank, attacking the black pawn structure. This could be the start of a repetition for a draw.
Vaishali moves her king back to defend the pawn and simultaneously attacks the white bishop.
The bishop moves back to the same position again. Now, the question is — will Vaishali repeat the moves by pushing her king forward once again?
Yes, Vaishali brings her king back to the center once again, repeating the previous move.
Anna once again attacks the base of the pawns, and the repetition continues. A draw could happen at any moment if the players continue this back-and-forth.
It’s a draw now, and Anna moves to 16.5 points. Even if she loses the Armageddon and Humpy wins against the World Champion, she will still have a chance to play a tiebreak. If two players share first place, there will be a play-off to decide the winner, consisting of a two-game blitz match with a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.
The game started with a King’s Pawn Opening, leading to the Four Knights Opening.
The game remained balanced throughout, with both players playing it safe and not taking any risks. The position transitioned into a Double Bishop Endgame, where neither player could break the deadlock. After 30 moves, the game ended in a draw. Anna now leads with 16.5 points, and the tournament outcome depends on the Armageddon match and potential tiebreaks.