Divya Deshmukh defeats Zhu Jiner, qualifies for FIDE Women's World Cup quarterfinals
On Thursday, Deshmukh had lost her second game with black pieces to Zhu after defeating the world no 6 from China with white pieces a day previously.
Meanwhile, GM Koneru Humpy also knocked out GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and went through to the Quarterfinals. Both their classical games ended in a draw. Humpy defeated Kosteniuk in Game 1 of the 15+10 Rapid tiebreaks, and held a draw in Game 2 to win the match.
The tournament format for the FIDE Women's World Cup is such that all games are played in a head-to-head elimination format over two classical games with players playing once each with white and black pieces. If after two classical games there is no clear winner, the battle enters tiebreaks, where the time control keeps reducing until there is a winner. While the two classical games are played over two days, the tiebreaks happen on the third day.
At first, both players will play best-of-two games in the 15 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move, popularly called 15+10) format. If that also cannot separate the two players, the time gets reduced to 10 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move, called 10+10). Once again there will be two games. If even this cannot provide a winner, the time trickles down to five minutes + three seconds (5+3). After this point, if players are still deadlocked, the game enters chess' equivalent of a sudden death: a winner-takes-all single game of three minutes + 2 seconds. This 3+2 game will be played until there's a winner.
The FIDE Women's World Cup offers the top three finishers a spot at next year's Women's Candidates tournament, which is the final step towards challenging the reigning women's world champion.
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First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
FIDE Women's World Cup: Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh stay unbeaten after semifinal openers
Indian chess stars Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh held Chinese opponents Tingjie Lei and Zhongyi Tan to draws in the first leg of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 semifinals. Meanwhile, Humpy's pre-game meditation moment also went viral on social media because of Tingjie's reaction. read more Indian chess stars Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh made a solid start in the semifinals of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, holding their Chinese opponents to draws in the first games on Tuesday, July 22. Humpy, playing with black pieces, comfortably held China's Tingjie Lei to a draw, while Divya frustrated former world champion Zhongyi Tan with her solid defence. Both Indians will now have the advantage of playing with white pieces in the return leg of this fixture. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The second semifinal games will be held on Wednesday, July 23. If the scores remain tied after the two classical games, the semifinalists will head to faster tie-break games, which will be held a day later. The winner of this event is slated to get $50,000 (over Rs 43 lakh), while the runners-up and third place player will earn $35,000 (Rs 30 lakh) and $25,000 (Rs 21 lakh), respectively. The top-three players will also qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament. Funny moment before Humpy vs Tingjie game Humpy was seen meditating before her high-stakes semifinal clash against Tingjie. As Lei approached the board, she hesitated and quietly went about her routine because Humpy sat with her eyes closed, completely immersed in her thoughts. The scene quickly went viral on social media after FIDE shared it with the caption, 'When your opponent is meditating and you don't want to disturb the vibe…' 🧘♀️ When your opponent is meditating and you don't want to disturb the vibe… FIDE Women's World Cup. Semifinal 🇨🇳 Lei Tingjie – Humpy Koneru 🇮🇳#FIDEWorldCup — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 22, 2025 Humpy made history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of a FIDE World Cup. The 38-year-old defeated China's Yuxin Song 1.5-0.5 in the quarterfinals. 'It feels happy to qualify without playing tie-breaks,' the Indian Grandmaster said after the match. 'I felt I could have played much better today, I was in a much better position, but slipped out in the time trouble.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meanwhile, International Master Divya Deshmukh had earlier stunned everyone by storming into the semifinals on her debut appearance. She knocked out compatriot and senior Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli in the quarters. 'Very shaky,' she told FIDE. 'I think I am happy with the way I played. I don't think the last game went well but, not really (worried)…My preparation had a lot of role in that game and I would like to thank my coach for that.'
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
FIDE Women's Chess World Cup: Humpy, Divya hold firm with draws in semifinal first games
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy held China's Tingjie Lei to a comfortable draw with black pieces, while Divya Deshmukh 's solid defence frustrated former women's world champion Zhongyi Tan in the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals here on Tuesday. With two Indians and two Chinese making up the final-four, the Asian dominance in women's chess remains undisputed. But it's now a battle of nerves for the final two spots. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Technology Leadership Cybersecurity Project Management Product Management Healthcare healthcare Others CXO Finance PGDM Management Public Policy Design Thinking Artificial Intelligence MCA Operations Management Data Analytics Data Science Data Science others MBA Degree Digital Marketing Skills you'll gain: Duration: 12 Weeks MIT xPRO CERT-MIT XPRO Building AI Prod India Starts on undefined Get Details From the look of it, the two Indians have had a great beginning drawing with black and in the return game both will play as white. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the World Undo If the results remain tied in this USD 691,250 event, then the games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. Also, three spots are up for grabs for the next Women's Candidates Tournament -- ensuring at least one Indian will qualify. Live Events Divya was the first to get off the hook against Zhongyi Tan who boasts of a remarkable resume as a woman chess player. The former world champion did not find any flaws in Divya's opening repertoire as the game embarked on a queen's gambit declined opening path. Divya exchanged pieces almost at will and Zhongyi also did not seem averse to equalising against an active position for black forces. In the end the players were left with just a rook and a minor piece each with three pawns on the same flank when nothing could have happened other than a drawn result. India's top woman player, Humpy, came up with a huge opening surprise for Lei that has not been seen at top level chess regularly. The Chinese did not know what hit her as early as on move four and even her best resources were not enough to combat Humpy into equalising. The players fought on post the exchange of queens in the middle game but the presence of opposite coloured Bishops ensured that Humpy was never in any danger. Results (Semifinal Game 1): TIngjie Lei (CHN) drew with Koneru Humpy (IND); Zhongyi Tan (CHN) drew with Divya Deshmukh (IND).
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Divya Deshmukh's emergence and Koneru Humpy's resurgence: 2 takeaways for Indian chess evident at FIDE World Cup
The two India vs China semifinals — Koneru Humpy vs Lei Tingjie and Divya Deshmukh vs Tan Zhongyi — ended in contrasting draws on Tuesday at the FIDE Women's World Cup. Both contests are evenly poised heading into the second day of the two-game battle at Batumi. While Divya's draw was short and quick, Humpy pulled out a new trick from her hat to unsettle her opponent before settling for a draw. Such are the high standards that Indians set for themselves; even a draw against the world's best is now unimpressive in their own eyes as was evident from Divya's body language. Asked by FIDE if she was happy, particularly since she had the black pieces, Divya only offered: 'It's okay, I guess.' 'It was quite a short draw, so I don't really have many thoughts about the game,' shrugged the 19-year-old, who's yet to become a GM, after going toe-to-toe and holding her own against a player who was the women's world champion eight years ago. In the three previous games between the pair, the veteran Tan has won twice with Divya salvaging a draw in the final battle. Ask GM Abhijit Kunte, who has seen Divya's rapid rise from close quarters, what that unimpressed reply says about Divya's mindset, and he says: 'In these kinds of mini-matches (games of two), you don't express anything. Because any positive or negative expression is bad for you. You have to remain neutral. And this kind of maturity at 19 is not easy to get. It's very rare.' Kunte, who was the captain of the all-conquering Indian's women's team at the Chess Olympiad last year where Divya was one of the stars, traces her lightning-quick journey to the top: 'Just last year, Divya was a world junior champion. She has always been very brave, someone never afraid to experiment. But she had very limited exposure to the top brass of women's chess. Then she played at the Olympiad last year. This year, she's played in the FIDE Grand Prix events, which has helped immensely.' So far, Divya has had a barnstorming FIDE World Cup, taking down the veteran grandmaster Harika Dronavalli in the quarters, and World No 6 Zhu Jiner in the previous two rounds. Divya has also shown other stand-out attributes on the board. GM Shyamsundar Mohanraj, who is the head of delegation for the Indian team in Batumi and has given the country its last two GMs, points at her victory over the veteran Harika Dronavalli in the previous round via tiebreaks. ❓Who's your pick for the finals? Game 1 of the semifinals was played today — and both ended in draws! 🇨🇳 Lei Tingjie ½–½ Humpy Koneru 🇮🇳 🇨🇳 Tan Zhongyi ½–½ Divya Deshmukh 🇮🇳 #FIDEWorldCup — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 22, 2025 'I say this as an outsider, but Divya's endgame skills and her defensive skills have improved quite a lot in a very short span of time. In the first game against Harika of the tiebreaks, she played dynamic chess to win. But if you look at the second game, she defended very well in a minus position (a position where she had a disadvantage). In Game 2 of the tie-breaks, Divya defended very well despite being low on time. She was barely playing with seconds on the clock, and Harika had like 4-5 minutes. There was pressure because Divya was in a don't-lose situation,' says Shyamsundar. At the other end of the spectrum is the veteran Humpy, who has already accounted for Alexandra Kosteniuk, one of the strongest players in the field, and the up-and-coming Chinese prodigy Song Yuxin. While Divya has stunned higher-rated opponents to script a fairytale story already, Humpy has been clinical: only once in the event has she needed tiebreaks to beat her opponent. In the first game of the semi-final against Lei on Tuesday, Humpy played the Berlin Defence, which she has rarely employed over the course of her lengthy career. In fact, one of the only times she's played it was against Kosteniuk in the previous rounds. On Tuesday, it had the desired effect; it forced Lei to think for about 10 minutes after 4… Ne7, a well-known trap door. 'Three years back, I thought Humpy looked like she was on the verge of quitting. But in the last year, she has come back so strongly. Winning a medal at the World Rapid Championship, then being among the top places in the Women's Grand Prix. Her game is also very positive now: she doesn't agree to quick draws. At this age, many people try to make some quick draws and win some easy games and try to finish in the top. But she's fighting it out. That shows her positive attitude and aggression. It's like seeing a very young Humpy again,' says Kunte before adding with a smile: 'I think Humpy is trying to match Divya's age. And Divya is trying to match Humpy's experience and maturity.' What makes Humpy's resurgence and Divya's emergence at the FIDE World Cup even more remarkable, points out GM Shyamsundar, is how tricky the World Cup is for any player, thanks to the treacherous format of two head-to-head battles and then tiebreaks if needed. 'The format is quite intense and very exhausting for the players. It's a best-of-2 battle. It's a dangerous format in a way and tricky. It's not like other Swiss tournaments (where you don't get eliminated) where even if you lose, you have an extra game to come back. But here, it's not like that. You never know when you will be leaving the tournament,' says Shyamsundar from Batumi. Besides Humpy's resurgence and Divya's emergence, there have been other moments to cheer for Indian chess in Batumi. Like Vantika Agrawal taking down former women's world champion Anna Ushenina. Or four Indians making it to the quarters (R Vaishali and Harika beside Humpy and Divya). He looks at the Indian players' performances and predicts a golden era like the one that men's chess is seeing in India. 'In India, despite the population, we have only had three women who have become GMs. But after seeing the results of these two players from different eras at the World Cup, players of any age in India will get inspired. This will definitely inspire and motivate many women players to take up sports,' says Shyamsundar. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
