International Master Divya Deshmukh advanced to the final of the FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup on Wednesday, defeating former World Champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the second semifinal match and winning the mini-match 1.5-0.5.
As the 19-year-old qualified for the upcoming Women’s Candidates Tournament, she received a ‘Grandmaster’ norm, making this triumph even more gratifying.
Divya’s conversion to an Alapin Sicilian as white and her time exchange of bishops for knights ensured a pawn plus endgame, demonstrating her cunning and strategy.
Tan had opportunities in the middle game, but the former world champion for women did not take advantage of them and eventually missed the position’s thread.
After the dust settled, Divya had an outside passed pawn, and it should have been a simple picking, but the luck of the game was quite erratic. For the record, there were 101 movements in the game.
If Indian general manager Koneru Humpy defeats China’s Lei Tingjie on Thursday, it might be an all-India final. Additionally, GM Humpy made history by becoming the first Indian woman to get to the tournament’s semifinals. Notably, after a strong start to the match, Humpy gave up her superior position versus Tingjie, and their first game finished in a draw. Like the second semifinal match between Tan Zhongyi of China and Divya, which had an identical scoreline, the opening match’s result is 0.5-0.5 each.
Koneru Humpy and China’s top seed Tingjie Lei drew in the second semifinal. Humpy faced the Slav defense while playing white and used the famous exchange variation that typically results in either giving white the better prospect or equal.
But since the position was not shifting significantly and the additional pawn was not that important, Lei remained informed. When Humpy had only one more pawn left in the rook and pawns endgame and the point was split after 75 moves, the draw was a fair outcome. In a shorter format, Humpy will now face Lei in the tie-breaker.
