{"id":14953,"date":"2026-02-19T09:59:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/?p=14953"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:59:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:59:27","slug":"from-world-no-10-to-no-2-in-womens-chess-zhu-jiner-makes-her-norway-chess-women-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/2026\/02\/19\/from-world-no-10-to-no-2-in-womens-chess-zhu-jiner-makes-her-norway-chess-women-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"From World No. 10 to No. 2 in Women\u2019s Chess: Zhu Jiner Makes Her Norway Chess Women Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m very happy and honored to be playing Norway Chess Women for the first time. It\u2019s a tournament I\u2019ve followed for many years and I really like the format. I\u2019m excited to take on this challenge and give my very best in Oslo!\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With those words, Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner confirms that she will compete in Norway Chess Women 2026. It will be her debut in the tournament, following a year that has seen her rise rapidly to the very top of women\u2019s chess.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/strong> Lennart Ootes<\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of 2025, Zhu was ranked World No. 10 among women. By October, she had climbed to World No. 2, where she remains today. Her results throughout the year established her as one of the leading contenders in the Women\u2019s World Championship cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n

A major milestone came in the FIDE Women\u2019s Grand Prix Series 2024\u20132025, where she tied for first place in all three events she played. That performance secured her overall victory in the series and qualification for the Women\u2019s Candidates Tournament 2026, the final step before a World Championship match.<\/span><\/p>\n

Known for combining tactical sharpness with strong positional understanding, Zhu Jiner is a well-rounded player who is comfortable in both complex tactical battles and long strategic games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her connection to Norway Chess began last year when she competed in the Norway Chess Open in Stavanger. This year she returns to Oslo to take part in Norway Chess Women for the first time, facing the very strongest female players in the world, including fellow Chinese star and reigning Women\u2019s World Champion Ju Wenjun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"zhu<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/strong> Norway Chess \/ Roza Czarnota<\/span><\/p>\n

Benedicte Westre Skog, COO of Norway Chess, is excited to see Zhu make her debut:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cZhu Jiner has taken remarkable steps forward in a short time and is now firmly among the world\u2019s best players. She\u2019s an exciting player to watch, and we hope fans in China, especially those following Norway Chess on the Chinese social media channel Weibo, will enjoy seeing her compete in Oslo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Norway Chess Women<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Norway Chess Women was launched in 2024 and is held alongside the main Norway Chess tournament with the same format, playing conditions, and prize fund. Now entering its third edition, it has quickly become one of the most important events in women\u2019s chess, bringing together the world\u2019s strongest female players in a highly competitive setting.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m very happy and honored to be playing Norway Chess Women for the first time. It\u2019s a tournament I\u2019ve followed for many years and I really like the format. I\u2019m excited to take on this challenge and give my very best in Oslo!\u201d With those words, Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner confirms that she will compete […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14953"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14964,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14953\/revisions\/14964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}