Shymkent GP R3: Humpy beats Batkhuyag

GM Koneru Humpy won her first game at FIDE Shymkent GP against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL). The Mongolia no.1 woman misplaced her queen. Things spiraled out of her control after that. IM Divya Deshmukh did not capture the d5-pawn at the right time, probably fearing 27...Ne4. Instead, she played 27.f3 which just created weakness on the kingside and things spiraled out of control. The current Women's World Championship Challenger, GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) defeated GM Kateryna Lagno with a beautiful knight sacrifice, followed by a rook sac to win her second game here and gain sole lead 2.5/3. Humpy will battle against IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) and Divya will face Zhongyi in Round 4. It starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Konstantin Chalabov