Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy hold higher-ranked Chinese GMs in semifinal Game 1

Time of India

6 days ago

Divya Deshmukh (left) and Koneru Humpy (Image Courtesy | FIDE - Anna Shtourman, Andrei Anosov)
Indian players' preparation prevailed over Chinese players' aggression in the opening classical games of the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals. World junior champion Divya Deshmukh and India No.
1 Koneru Humpy defended well with black pieces to hold higher-ranked Chinese Grandmasters in Batumi, Georgia, on Tuesday.
Divya held former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi in 30 moves, and Humpy help top seed Lei Tingjie to a 38-move draw in an entertaining contest. On Wednesday, both the first time Indian semifinalists of the knockout format World Cup will start with white pieces in the second classical. Both Humpy and Divya will look to take advantage of their openings and put pressure on China's third and fifth-ranked players.
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On Tuesday, Divya was the first to finish her game against three-time World Cup semifinalist Zhongyi. Tan chose the Queen's Pawn opening, and Divya responded in a similar fashion. The Queen's Gambit Declined set up on the board saw a balanced position with both the in-form Indian and Chinese players exchanging their minor pieces by the 11th move.
Divya's first notable move came on the 12th turn when she advanced her queen for a check and followed it up by winning Tan's bishop.
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The 13th move that Divya played denied Tan any advantage from her opening. On the 17th turn, both exchanged their queens, and the game became equal with both the rooks and Divya's knight against Tan's bishop.
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After they sacrificed one of their rooks on the 24th move, Divya again stopped Tan from laying any trap. In the next move, Divya made another notable move when she brought her remaining rook into the attacking line and forced Tan to take a defensive route.
After trading their pawns, both agreed to split the point in the 30th move, Divya displaying her fantastic preparations with black pieces.
In the second semifinal, things were heating up between Humpy and Tingjie. In the Ruy Lopez Opening of Berlin and uncommon Mortimer Variation, Humpy played to a plan by managing the clock beautifully well, which finally forced Tingjie to go on the defensive.
On the 17th turn, Humpy played a dubious move with her knight, and a confused-looking Tingjie made an 18th move blunder with her bishop.
When Humpy advanced one of her pawns, Tingjie again played a dubious knight move on the 21st turn, placing it in the wrong square, rather laying an attack. With Humpy's bishop and queen lined up to take the next attack, the experienced Indian GM made another notable move on the 29th turn, and Tingjie, under time trouble, became defensive. For the first time in the contest, Humpy had four extra minutes to make her moves.
After exchanging their queens on the 36th turn, the position became balanced with both having opposite-coloured bishops, and eventually, the game ended in a draw in the 38th move.
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