logo
Inspired Divya Deshmukh takes down Harika in rapid

Inspired Divya Deshmukh takes down Harika in rapid

Time of India3 days ago
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!
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Koneru vs Divya: Who will become India's first FIDE World Champion?
Koneru vs Divya: Who will become India's first FIDE World Champion?

Business Standard

timean hour ago

  • Business Standard

Koneru vs Divya: Who will become India's first FIDE World Champion?

In a first for Indian chess, the FIDE Women's World Cup will have a winner from the country with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh set to fight it out in what could be anybody's game in the grand finale here on Saturday. It's the first in the event's history that two Indians are facing each other in the final. Both Humpy and Deshmukh have qualified for the Women's candidates' tournament next year after reaching the final here. On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh. Humpy held her nerves to score a come-from-behind victory in the semifinals over Tingjie Lei of China in the tiebreaker on Thursday, while Deshmukh defeated former world champion Zhongyi Tan -- also of China -- in the second game of the last-four stage match. Grandmaster Humpy, 38, was the winner of the world women's rapid tournament and also tied for first at the women's grand prix in recent times and she has proved yet again that age is just a number. Her grit and determination has not faded one bit in the past many years. It's one of the happiest moments for chess fans because now the title will go to India for sure. But of course, as a player, tomorrow will be quite a tough game as well -- Divya has played tremendously well in this whole tournament, Humpy told FIDE website. At half the age of Humpy, International Master Deshmukh has already stunned as many as three players ranked in top ten in the event. Her first victim was second seed Jiner Zhu of China, before ousting D Harika. The 19-year-old Nagpur-based Deshmukh then beat former women's world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the semifinals. "I just need some sleep and some food, these days have been so anxious for me, Deshmukh said after entering the final. I think I could have played much better. I was winning at a certain point and then it got complicated. I think I messed up in the middlegame and that I should have had a much smoother win, she said about her semifinal match. She put up such a great fight at a certain point. I was just doubting if it was just a draw -- I think I got lucky in the end." Humpy was stretched to the tiebreaker in the pre quarterfinals by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland and she followed it up with a clinical performance against Yuxin Song. Her best, thus far, was reserved for the semifinals as she outclassed top seed Tingjei Lei of China in the five minutes' games after the players had reached a 3-3 deadlock. I played a bit shaky in the rapid, but she also gave a very good fight. It could have gone either way, Humpy said about her semifinal opponent. It was a very tough match. Initially, I played quite badly with the Black pieces and she always had the advantage. After the loss (in Game 3), it was a very difficult situation, but I was able to come back. Saturday's final will also be played over two classical games and if the results stand at 1-1, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. The minimum take away for finishing second here is USD 35000 while the winner will take home USD 50000. The additional bonus is qualification to the next Women's Candidates tournament in which both the Indians have reserved their seats now. The 8-player Candidates tournament will decide the challenger for reigning world champion Wenjun Ju of China in the next world women's championship match. Humpy has the ability to sit through long games without making mistakes. Deshmukh, on the other hand, has an attacking style. It is going to be a battle of wits in the final that starts after a lone rest day. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

IND vs ENG 4th Test: Wasim Akram rings the five-minute bell ahead of Day 3 at Old Trafford
IND vs ENG 4th Test: Wasim Akram rings the five-minute bell ahead of Day 3 at Old Trafford

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

IND vs ENG 4th Test: Wasim Akram rings the five-minute bell ahead of Day 3 at Old Trafford

Wasim Akram (Image credit: X) NEW DELHI: Pakistan legend Wasim Akram rang the five-minute bell ahead of Day 3 of the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! On Day 2, former England cricketer Neil Fairbrother had the honour of ringing the bell before the start of play. A Cricket Hall of Famer, Fairbrother represented England in 10 Tests and 75 ODIs. The opening day saw West Indies great and two-time World Cup-winning captain Clive Lloyd , along with former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer , ring the bell. The gesture came after a stand was named in honour of two of Lancashire's most iconic overseas players. England currently lead the five-match series 2-1. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!

Koneru Humpy vs Diyva Deshmukh: FIDE Women's World Cup to have an Indian winner for first time
Koneru Humpy vs Diyva Deshmukh: FIDE Women's World Cup to have an Indian winner for first time

Time of India

time2 hours ago

  • Time of India

Koneru Humpy vs Diyva Deshmukh: FIDE Women's World Cup to have an Indian winner for first time

In a first for Indian chess , the FIDE Women's World Cup will have a winner from the country with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh set to fight it out in what could be anybody's game in the grand finale here on Saturday. It's the first in the event's history that two Indians are facing each other in the final. Both Humpy and Deshmukh have qualified for the Women's candidates' tournament next year after reaching the final here. On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh. Humpy held her nerves to score a come-from-behind victory in the semifinals over Tingjie Lei of China in the tiebreaker on Thursday, while Deshmukh defeated former world champion Zhongyi Tan -- also of China -- in the second game of the last-four stage match. Grandmaster Humpy, 38, was the winner of the world women's rapid tournament and also tied for first at the women's grand prix in recent times and she has proved yet again that age is just a number. Her grit and determination has not faded one bit in the past many years. Live Events "It's one of the happiest moments for chess fans because now the title will go to India for sure. But of course, as a player, tomorrow will be quite a tough game as well -- Divya has played tremendously well in this whole tournament," Humpy told FIDE website. At half the age of Humpy, International Master Deshmukh has already stunned as many as three players ranked in top ten in the event. Her first victim was second seed Jiner Zhu of China, before ousting D Harika. The 19-year-old Nagpur-based Deshmukh then beat former women's world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the semifinals. "I just need some sleep and some food, these days have been so anxious for me," Deshmukh said after entering the final. "I think I could have played much better. I was winning at a certain point and then it got complicated. I think I messed up in the middlegame and that I should have had a much smoother win," she said about her semifinal match. "She put up such a great fight at a certain point. I was just doubting if it was just a draw -- I think I got lucky in the end." Humpy was stretched to the tiebreaker in the pre quarterfinals by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland and she followed it up with a clinical performance against Yuxin Song. Her best, thus far, was reserved for the semifinals as she outclassed top seed Tingjei Lei of China in the five minutes' games after the players had reached a 3-3 deadlock. "I played a bit shaky in the rapid, but she also gave a very good fight. It could have gone either way," Humpy said about her semifinal opponent. "It was a very tough match. Initially, I played quite badly with the Black pieces and she always had the advantage. After the loss (in Game 3), it was a very difficult situation, but I was able to come back." Saturday's final will also be played over two classical games and if the results stand at 1-1, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. The minimum take away for finishing second here is USD 35000 while the winner will take home USD 50000. The additional bonus is qualification to the next Women's Candidates tournament in which both the Indians have reserved their seats now. The 8-player Candidates tournament will decide the challenger for reigning world champion Wenjun Ju of China in the next world women's championship match. Humpy has the ability to sit through long games without making mistakes. Deshmukh, on the other hand, has an attacking style. It is going to be a battle of wits in the final that starts after a lone rest day.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store