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Divya Deshmukh stuns 2nd-seed Zhu Jiner at FIDE World Cup: 'Once the game began, it didn't matter...'
Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner and Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh in action during Round 4 of the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. Image credit: FIDE
The FIDE Women's Chess World Cup resumed action on Wednesday after the players enjoyed a break in the 'Free Day' on Tuesday. And among the players standing out in Game 1 of the fourth round was India's Divya Deshmukh, who has one foot in the quarter-finals after her stunning victory over Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner in Batumi, Georgia.
The 19-year-old International Master had a 0-5 record against the Chinese second-seed, including three defeats in the Classical format. The poor record against Zhu become was something of a mental block for Deshmukh heading into the opening game of Round 4 on Wednesday, but she managed to overcome it by focusing on 'playing the pieces' and not the opponent.
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'Actually I expected it to be worse. It's good to know that it's just 5-1. I didn't have any specific preparations. Since I had a bad score, I guess there was some sort of a mental block. But, I just tried to think that I'm playing against the pieces, so it doesn't really matter who I'm against,' Deshmukh said in an interview with FIDE after her stunning victory over Zhu in 49 moves.
'Once the game began, it didn't matter who I was playing against. I think I also got a favourable opening and the position was quite comfortable,' she added.
🇮🇳 IM Divya Deshmukh wins Game 1 of Round 4 against 🇨🇳 GM Zhu Jiner.#FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/JixDOkMZLX — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 16, 2025
Deshmukh sets sights on 2-0 against Chinese second-seed Zhu
The second Classical game of the fourth round takes place on Thursday with the tie-breaks set to take place on Friday in case two players finish level on scores. And Deshmukh has made it clear that she has a 2-0 on her mind against her opponent, ranked sixth on the latest FIDE Women's Classical ratings – 12 places above her.
'I guess it's a normal game. I don't think it's anything special, but of course I have to give my best and see how it goes. It will be pretty great if I can score 2-0 right?' Deshmukh added.
Besides Deshmukh, Zhu's compatriots GM Lie Tingjie, Song Yuxin and Tan Zhongyi won their opening games while playing as white. Each of the remaining Indians in the tournament – GMs Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R Vaishali – collected draws.
FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 Round 4 Indian player results (white first):
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– IM Divya Deshmukh (India) 1-0 GM Zhu Jiner (China)
– GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland) 0.5-0.5 GM Koneru Humpy (India)
– GM R Vaishali (India) 0.5-0.5 IM Meruert Kamalidenova (Kazakhstan)
– GM Kateryna Lagno (FIDE) 0.5-0.5 GM Harika Dronavalli
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