Humpy, Divya hold firm with draws in semifinal first games

Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh held their Chinese opponents to solid draws in the first semifinal games of the FIDE Women’s World Cup, keeping India’s hopes alive for final qualification

Georgia: 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, Asian dominance in women’s chess remains undisputed. But it’s now a battle of nerves for the final two spots.

---

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.

If the results remain tied in this USD 691,250 event, then 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.

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 found no flaws in Divya’s opening repertoire as the game followed a Queen’s Gambit Declined opening.

Divya exchanged pieces almost at will, and Zhongyi also did not seem averse to equalising against an active position for Black.

In the end, the players were left with just a rook and a minor piece each, along with three pawns on the same flank—resulting in an inevitable draw.

India’s top woman player, Humpy, came up with a huge opening surprise for Lei, which has not been seen regularly at top-level chess.

The Chinese player was caught off guard as early as move four, and even her best resources were not enough to challenge Humpy into conceding any advantage.

The players fought on after a queen exchange in the middlegame, 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).