World Cup chess: Humpy, Divya draw Game 2, push match into tiebreaker

Hindustan Times

16 hours ago

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.