Three decisive results on the final day
Bibisara Assaubayeva finished as the winner of the third Norway Chess Women tournament, having secured the title with a round to spare. The 22-year-old grandmaster from Kazakhstan ended on 16½ points, with three classical wins to her name, in an event run alongside the open tournament under the same format and with the same prize distribution.
This was the third year in which Norway Chess organised two parallel elite events, one open and one for women. The women’s field included the two previous winners: Ju Wenjun, who won the inaugural edition in 2024, and Anna Muzychuk, the 2025 champion. Assaubayeva, making her first appearance in the event, took first place ahead of Zhu Jiner and Muzychuk.
It was yet another remarkably organised chess super-tournament in Norway | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
The final round saw all three classical games ended with a winner for the first time in the event. Assaubayeva, already assured of the title, lost with black against Ju, while Zhu and Muzychuk both won with white, defeating Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh respectively.
Despite the three decisive results, the final standings were unchanged from the order before the last round. Zhu finished second, while Muzychuk took third place. Ju’s final-round win gave her fourth, with Deshmukh and Koneru occupying the last two places in the table.
Assaubayeva’s final score matched the total achieved by Muzychuk when she won the 2025 edition. Both finished their title-winning campaigns on 16½ points. Ju’s record showed a similar coincidence: after winning the 2024 event with 19 points, she finished both the 2025 and 2026 editions on 13½.
Tournament winner Bibisara Assaubayeva | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
Round 10 results
| White | Result | Black |
| Zhu Jiner | 3 – 0 | Humpy Koneru |
| Anna Muzychuk | 3 – 0 | Divya Deshmukh |
| Ju Wenjun | 3 – 0 | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
Final standings
| Player | Rating | Federation | Points |
| Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2527 | Kazakhstan | 16½ |
| Zhu Jiner | 2546 | China | 16 |
| Anna Muzychuk | 2522 | Ukraine | 15 |
| Ju Wenjun | 2559 | China | 13½ |
| Divya Deshmukh | 2500 | India | 10 |
| Humpy Koneru | 2535 | India | 9 |
In what was her third consecutive classical win, Zhu defeated Koneru by converting a favourable knight v. bishop endgame.
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The final round taking place at the great-looking Deichman Bjorvika Public Library in Oslo | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
Ju v. Assaubayeva was also decided in the endgame. Assaubayeva faltered on move 36, when the natural-looking …f5-f4 pawn push rather surprisingly gave White a winning position.
There followed 36…f4 37.g4 Kf6+ 38.g5 Kg7 39.a5! (giving up the pawn to free the d-file for the rook infiltration) Bxa5 40.Rd7+ and White decisively gained the initiative in the endgame with rooks and bishops of opposite colours.
Ju Wenjun did not have a great tournament (for her standards), but still managed to end on a high note | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
Muzychuk won the most one-sided game of the day, as she got a strong initiative early in the middlegame following consecutive imprecisions by Deshmukh on moves 14 and 15. By move 22, it was already clear that Black needed both an extremely resilient defensive effort and some luck to save the draw.
The game lasted until move 53, but Muzychuk kept her clear advantage throughout.
Anna Muzychuk | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza