Women's World Cup: Humpy blitzes Lei to set up final against Deshmukh
After scrambling and surviving the first two Rapid games, Humpy, playing black, lost the third Rapid game of the day as Lei took early charge and didn't let go. With her tournament on the line, Humpy needed a win and she did just that.
Humpy, playing with white, won the next Rapid game at a canter demolishing Lei in just 39 moves. Lifted by that performance, she won the next two Blitz games to seal her place in the final. As a result, Humpy has also earned her spot in the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament which will be held in the first half of 2026.
Commenting on the tie-breaker on X, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand said: 'The tiebreak between Humpy and Lie Tingjie ended in a duel of nerves given the huge stakes involved. Humpy managed to compose herself and come back into the match after the first setback and then won the last two games to go through. Incredible resilience and after her World Rapid win as well as her shared first place in the Pune Grand Prix, a remarkable World Cup to get another Candidates spot.'
The tie-breaker is not for the faint-hearted. The classical format gives you time to remember your preparation and calmly think through a tough situation. The challenge is that of perfection.
In contrast, the Rapid and the Blitz formats are all about instinct. The paucity of time often forces your hand and you may miss obvious moves. The challenge here is surviving the chaos.
Humpy's mind would have been in turmoil after that early loss but this is where the value of her experience shone through. The 38-year-old had had a pretty barren run in 2024 even considering quitting but she ended the year by winning the women's world rapid championship.
She hasn't looked back since. The Rapid title was a big one for Humpy, who has always considered herself to be a more solid classical player and the confidence gained from that would have no doubt helped her on Thursday as well.
The Indian, ranked fifth in the world, upped the ante when she needed to against the Chinese world No.3 and by the end, she was clearly the better player on the day.
'It's a very tough match,' Humpy told FIDE during the live broadcast. 'Initially, I played quite bad with the black pieces and she always had the advantage. After the loss, it was a very difficult situation but I was able to come back. I think Lei was very comfortable, even in the last game instead of Bb3, e4 would have just killed the position. I just realised after making the move. But yeah, Blitz was in my control.'
In the first Blitz game, Humpy (with white pieces) established a solid position early on but the complex middle game saw the game going into a time scramble before the Indian came out on top.
The pressure was now on Lei. She needed to find her best form but Humpy turned in a composed performance to win the tie-breaker 5-3.
Humpy and Deshmukh's run to the final means that Indian chess is continuing its brilliant run on the world stage. The women's team won the Olympiad, Humpy is the reigning women's World Rapid champion and D Gukesh is the world classical champion.
When asked this result means to India, especially for female Indian chess players, Humpy smiled and spoke of how the country has the title in the bag.
'It's one of the happiest moments for chess fans because now the title is India's for sure,' she said. 'But as a player, it will be quite a tough game as Divya has played tremendously well in this whole tournament.'
The winner of the tournament will earn $50,000 but the final is going to be about so much more. Both, Humpy and Deshmukh, are playing some of the best chess of their lives and as things stand, they won't settle for anything less than the crown.
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Divya opens up on missed chances against Humpy in Classical leg of Chess World Cup final: 'Felt like a loss'
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Time of India
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Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
World Cup chess: Humpy, Divya draw Game 2, push match into tiebreaker
Mumbai: A more sedate draw in the second classical game of the FIDE Women's World Cup final between young Divya Deshmukh and the seasoned Koneru Humpy took matters into the faster tie-breaks on Monday to determine the new Indian champion at Batumi, Georgia. India's Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh at the FIDE Women's World Cup final.(FIDE/X) Playing with white on Sunday, GM Humpy was expected to press for an advantage. Despite creating some chances towards the end to push her opponent into an awkward position, the two shook hands for a 34-move draw that was less dramatic than on Saturday. Still, speaking to FIDE after Sunday's game, the teen challenger felt it could've been a much easier draw for her. 'I got into some trouble for no reason,' she said. IM Divya has been the more adventurous finalist across the two classical games, but now enters into a rapid and blitz tie-breaks territory where her experienced opponent flaunts greater pedigree. Humpy, 38, is the reigning world rapid champion, a title she had also won in 2019. In the faster formats, as Divya herself called it, her opponent is a 'really strong player'. 'In rapid, Humpy is the current world champion. Even if it comes down to blitz, she has been a world No.2 before. I think Humpy could have better chances in rapid and blitz. Divya will have to play very carefully because of Humpy's judgement that tends to put her in better positions around the 10-minute mark,' GM Pravin Thipsay told HT. Divya, however, has also shown good form in the rapid format in this tournament. She won both her rapid matches against GM Harika Dronavalli to enter the semi-final. The key for the teen, according to Thipsay, lies in the positions she can get into when the clock runs down to the final 2-3 minutes of the games. 'If it's passive, she will find it difficult to defend. If she has the initiative, she can win. If things come down to less than one minute or so, Divya's speedy calculations can help her,' said Thipsay. While Humpy has been a picture of calm so far in this all-Indian title clash, Divya has had her up-and-down moments. Speaking about it 24 hours later, she would still rue that missed opportunity in the first game, when she could've really pushed for a victory from a 'closing to winning position', as Thipsay put it, before an impulsive moment and a miscalculated move blew it away. For Divya, that draw stung. 'I was quite disappointed with the first game because I saw everything but ended up making the wrong choice. It was quite a pity. Even though it was a draw, it felt like a loss,' she told FIDE. To her credit, the 19-year-old recovered from that quickly and turned up just as composed and prepared with black to thwart any dangers. 'Divya has shown great maturity for her age. She's very professional in her approach, which is normally not seen in players of that age,' Thipsay said. She will need all of that professionalism and maturity for the decisive tie-breaks against her more accomplished opponent in the format. 'She's a really strong player, but I'm hoping things go my way,' Divya said. The tiebreaker will be held on July 28, Monday.
