Divya Deshmukh becomes the first-ever Indian to advance to a FIDE Women's World Cup Final
19-year-old IM Divya Deshmukh has etched her name in the history by becoming the first Indian woman to advance to the Finals of a FIDE Women's World Cup. The second Semifinal was absolutely worthy of its clash. It had everything, mistakes in a back and forth battle. Eventually, the 16th Women's World Champion, GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) made the final error which cost her game. GM Koneru Humpy was also winning in the rook endgame, similar to her compatriot. However, she fumbled it and will have to play tie-breaks tomorrow against GM Tingjie Lei (CHN). The winner will face Divya in the Finals. Round 6/Semifinal Tie-break games start tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman
Divya creates history, Humpy to play tie-breaks against Tingjie
IM Divya Deshmukh has secured herself a spot in the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026, a GM-norm and US$ 35000 as a minimum prize. If she wins the Women's World Cup, she will become India's latest Grandmaster.
Humpy - Tingjie: 0.5-0.5
GM Koneru Humpy (2536) got an opportunity to win in the rook endgame against GM Tingjie Lei (CHN, 2557).
Black blundered 50...Rh3+?? 51.Kg2+- White got a decisive advantage Rh4 52.Kg3 Rh1 53.Ra7 and everything was fine for White until she incorrectly pushed her f-pawn.
64.Rd5 is the only way for White to win the game. Instead, 64.f5+?? evaporated White's advantage and the game ended in a draw.
Divya - Zhongyi: 1-0
IM Divya Deshmukh (2463) was going to this game without ever having beaten GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2527) in a Classical rated game. It was about time for her to change that statistic.
Divya took a bit of a risk when she played 31.Ne4? d3 32.Nd6 exf3 instead Rg4 would have made things difficult for Black. 33.gxf3 dxe2 34.Nxe8 Qc6 35.Qxe2 Rc2?? 36.Qe4 Qxe4 37.Rxe4 and White got a decisive advantage. The rook endgame was a back and forth one where the 16th Women's World Champion kept making mistakes and Divya returning it. The pressure of the Semifinal got both of them. Eventually, Zhongyi made the final mistake.
It is not easy for Black to defend it. She blundered 90...Kh3?? which was the final mistake of the game. 91.Kc6+- and this time Divya did not let her advantage slip.
Watch Round 6/Semifinal Game 2 live stream
Prizes
The total prize fund is US$ 691250 which will be distributed among 107 players. The top three prizes are $50000, 35000 and 25000.
