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Time of India
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Inspired Divya Deshmukh takes down Harika in rapid
Divya Deshmukh (Image credit FIDE) Making the most of her favourite chess format, World junior champion Divya Deshmukh made it to the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday. Nagpur's 19-year-old International Master (IM) knocked down veteran Grandmaster D Harika in the first set of quarterfinal tiebreaks played in Divya's favourite rapid format. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The win saw her take a bold step towards qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament. Divya won both her games played with the white and black pieces to clinch the quarterfinal 3-1, a day after the compatriots drew two of their classical games. Divya was overwhelmed with emotions after winning the second tiebreak game, which at one stage was a losing contest for her. She said, 'Happy with the way I played today. I think the preparation had a lot of role in the first rapid game today. I would like to thank my coach for this. The last game didn't go the way I thought. In the second game, Harika played quite well, I am just glad it's over.' In the day's opening game played in the rapid format, Divya utilised her opening advantage with white pieces well. Divya opted for the Giuoco Piano Game with Center attack, utilising her pawn. On the 22nd and 24th turns, Harika made a couple of dubious moves, and Divya found her attacking weapon. On the 33rd move, Divya snatched Harika's queen by exchanging her rook to take a firm grip on the contest. She converted the queen vs rook endgame and took the lead by winning the contest in 57 moves. In the following game with black pieces, Divya chose the Slav Defense of Modern Line. After Divya played a couple of questionable moves, Harika made a mistake on the 18th turn. Despite that, the game remained equal with a couple of Harika's bishops and Divya's knight and bishop. A 60th move by Divya confused Harika, and she made back-to-back blunders on the 61st and 63rd turns. Divya was severely low on time and on the verge of losing the contest, but she started making her moves fast and succeeded in going a pawn up. When Divya made her winning 76th move by advancing her pawn, Harika resigned. From Tuesday, the semifinal battles will be played between India and China. Divya will face China's World No. 8 Tan Zhongyi, and Koneru Humpy will be up against top seed Lei Tingjie. With the top three finishers qualifiyng for the Women's Candidates tournament, both Humpy and Divya can earn the right to fight in the event from where the World Champion Challenger will be identified. On her plans against Tan in the semifinals, Divya said, 'I always wanted to avoid tiebreaks, but it's not in my hands. I just want to forget everything and eat now. After that, I will start preparing.' On who was the toughest opponent in the World Cup so far, Divya said, 'Zhu was the toughest opponent. Winning against Zhu in tiebreaks gave me confidence, and today it reflected in my play.' Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Time of India
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Inspired Divya takes down Harika in rapid to face China's World No.8 Tan in semis; India confirms one Candidates berth
Nagpur: Making the most of her favourite chess format, World junior champion Divya Deshmukh made it to the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday. Nagpur's 19-year-old International Master (IM) knocked down veteran Grandmaster D Harika in the first set of quarterfinal tiebreaks played in Divya's favourite rapid format. The win saw her take a bold step towards qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament. Divya won both her games played with the white and black pieces to clinch the quarterfinal 3-1, a day after the compatriots drew two of their classical games. Divya was overwhelmed with emotions after winning the second tiebreak game, which at one stage was a losing contest for her. She said, "Happy with the way I played today. I think the preparation had a lot of role in the first rapid game today. I would like to thank my coach for this. The last game didn't go the way I thought. In the second game, Harika played quite well, I am just glad it's over." In the day's opening game played in the rapid format, Divya utilised her opening advantage with white pieces well. Divya opted for the Giuoco Piano Game with Center attack, utilising her pawn. On the 22nd and 24th turns, Harika made a couple of dubious moves, and Divya found her attacking weapon. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals On the 33rd move, Divya snatched Harika's queen by exchanging her rook to take a firm grip on the contest. She converted the queen vs rook endgame and took the lead by winning the contest in 57 moves. In the following game with black pieces, Divya chose the Slav Defense of Modern Line. After Divya played a couple of questionable moves, Harika made a mistake on the 18th turn. Despite that, the game remained equal with a couple of Harika's bishops and Divya's knight and bishop. A 60th move by Divya confused Harika, and she made back-to-back blunders on the 61st and 63rd turns. Divya was severely low on time and on the verge of losing the contest, but she started making her moves fast and succeeded in going a pawn up. When Divya made her winning 76th move by advancing her pawn, Harika resigned. From Tuesday, the semifinal battles will be played between India and China. Divya will face China's World No. 8 Tan Zhongyi, and Koneru Humpy will be up against top seed Lei Tingjie. With the top three finishers qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament, both Humpy and Divya can earn the right to fight in the event from where the World Champion Challenger will be identified. On her plans against Tan in the semifinals, Divya said, "I always wanted to avoid tiebreaks, but it's not in my hands. I just want to forget everything and eat now. After that, I will start preparing." On who was the toughest opponent in the World Cup so far, Divya said, "Zhu was the toughest opponent. Winning against Zhu in tiebreaks gave me confidence, and today it reflected in my play."
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Humpy, Divya confirm last 16 chess WC berths; Vaishali, Vantika and Harika to play tie break
1 2 3 4 Nagpur: India No.1 Koneru Humpy and reigning world junior champion Divya Deshmukh registered victories in contrasting fashion to confirm their last 16 berths in the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Sunday. While Humpy registered a crushing win with her black pieces against Polish IM Khaudia Kulon, Divya drew her second classical game to defeat Teodora Injac of Serbia 1.5-0.5. Both Humpy and Divya qualified for the fourth round of the top 16 players. The other three Indian players in the fray, including Vaishali Rameshbabu, D Harika, and Vantika Agrawal, drew both their classical games to enter the tie-break rounds. A day after world No.5 Humpy was held to a draw by lower-rated Khaudia, the India No.1 registered a thumping 44-move win while defending with her black pieces. On Khaudia's King's Pawn opening, Humpy chose the Giuoco Piano Game. In the mid-game, Humpy laid a trap with her bishops, and Khaudia's position became a bit shaky. Humpy converted the advantage by lining up her pieces. No sooner than she became a rook up in the 40th move, the India GM took control of the proceedings. With an extra piece, Humpy prevailed over Khaudia in the next four moves. Divya became the first Indian to qualify for the fourth round when she played out a quick 30-move draw with Teodora. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo On the King's Pawn opening of Teodora, Divya chose the Alapin Sicilian defense as the Rook-Bishop and Knight equal ended after both split the points. On Saturday, Divya took the decisive advantage by winning the first classical game while defending with her black pieces in 39 moves. Divya said, "Today was tougher than yesterday because I absolutely just wanted a draw to qualify, but my mind couldn't search for ways how to make a draw." In the fourth round, Divya will face World No.6 and 2547 Elo Chinese GM Zhu Jiner. Among the other Indians, Harika played out a second successive draw with Greek IM Stavroula Tsolakidou, while Vantika Agrawal suffered a 43-move defeat against higher-ranked Ukrainian GM Kateryna Lagno with her black pieces. On Saturday, Vantika surprised Lagno to end the two-round classical format at par with a point each. Vaishali was the last to finish her game. She drew with American IM Carissa Yip in 48 moves. On Monday, Harika, Vantika, and Vaishali will try their luck in the tie-break rounds to be played in the rapid and blitz formats.
