Latest news with #Harika
The Hindu
14 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Divya Deshmukh springs another surprise stunning Harika to be in semis
Slowly but surely emerging as one of India's key players, International Master Divya Deshmukh stunned higher-ranked compatriot Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the tiebreaks to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup here. After two uneventful draws in the classical games, the pressure was on Harika in the rapid tiebreaks. Divya capitalised with a determined performance to win the first game, before sealing the match in the second as Harika, in a must-win situation, overpressed in search of a miracle that never came. While Harika has been a semifinalist on three different occasions in a similar format which was then called the world women's championship, Humpy and now Divya have become the two Indians who made it to the semis of the women's world cup as this is a part of the new world championship cycle. This also means that one Indian entry is assured in the Women's Candidates Tournament slated sometime next year, which will decide who will contest the world championship match against incumbent Ju Wenjun of China. Highest-ranked Indian for over a decade, Koneru Humpy is already in the last four for the first time in her career, and this is one title that has eluded her all these years. With Divya Deshmukh joining her as the other semi-finalist, it shows a paradigm shift in Indian women's chess too, where the boys have largely been making hay. Divya employed the Italian Opening in the first game and gave nothing away. Harika was outdone in the middlegame while trying to find some serious counterplay but ended up miscalculating, which cost her the queen for two white pieces. The rest was easy for Divya, who has now established herself as a force to reckon with in women's chess. In the return game, Harika had to win, but again Divya was up to the task in defence. It is well known that Harika adores her chances in faster versions, but against Divya she did not get many. It was a picturesque finish in the end that closed the doors for Harika. In the semifinals, Humpy will meet top seed Lei Tingjie of China, while Divya will face former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi, also of China.
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Inspired Divya Deshmukh takes down Harika in rapid
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!
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Divya Deshmukh springs another surprise to be in semis
Slowly but surely emerging as one of India's key players, International Master Divya Deshmukh stunned higher-ranked compatriot Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the tiebreaks to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup here. After two uneventful draws in the classical games, the pressure was on Harika in the rapid tiebreaks. Divya capitalised with a determined performance to win the first game, before sealing the match in the second as Harika, in a must-win situation, overpressed in search of a miracle that never came. While Harika has been a semifinalist on three different occasions in a similar format which was then called the world women's championship, Humpy and now Divya have become the two Indians who made it to the semis of the women's world cup as this is a part of the new world championship cycle. This also means that one Indian entry is assured in the Women's Candidates Tournament slated sometime next year, which will decide who will contest the world championship match against incumbent Ju Wenjun of China. Highest-ranked Indian for over a decade, Koneru Humpy is already in the last four for the first time in her career, and this is one title that has eluded her all these years. With Divya Deshmukh joining her as the other semi-finalist, it shows a paradigm shift in Indian women's chess too, where the boys have largely been making hay. Divya employed the Italian Opening in the first game and gave nothing away. Harika was outdone in the middlegame while trying to find some serious counterplay but ended up miscalculating, which cost her the queen for two white pieces. The rest was easy for Divya, who has now established herself as a force to reckon with in women's chess. In the return game, Harika had to win, but again Divya was up to the task in defence. It is well known that Harika adores her chances in faster versions, but against Divya she did not get many. It was a picturesque finish in the end that closed the doors for Harika. In the semifinals, Humpy will meet top seed Lei Tingjie of China, while Divya will face former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi, also of China.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Two Indians, two Chinese, one coveted chess World Cup trophy
CHENNAI: ONE of Divya Deshmukh or Koneru Humpy will feature in next year's women's Candidates, the eight-player double round-robin tournament whose topper will play in the 2026 edition of the women's world Championships. This was confirmed after Humpy's win in the quarterfinal against Yuxin Song on Sunday. On Monday, Deshmukh joined her senior compatriot in the last four after her tie-break win over D Harika in the women's World Cup in Batumi. The teen, an age-group world champion, continued her fairy tale run in Georgia as she took down another GM. A few days after bringing down the second seed and one of the pre-tournament favourites, China's Zhu Jiner's, she repeated the trick against Harika as she won both the tie-break games. After the pair of games, she credited her coach 'for the prep'. "I would have to say the preparation had a lot of role in that game (first game of the break with white pieces)," she said. "I would have to thank my coach for that." Neither player held a clear advantage out of the opening — the eval bar was pretty much level after 20 moves — but the 19-year-old built up an advantage thanks to couple of sharp moves as she punished several of Harika's questionable moves in the middlegame. A blunder from her — 27. c6 — put the younger Indian in the driver's seat. And it's an advantage she didn't relinquish till Harika resigned. Both players traded major inaccuracies in the second of the two breakers. At one point of time in the endgame, Harika had the chance to win on demand but there were some miscalculations and the IM won a second game in succession. She faces Tan Zhongyi in one of the two semis, while Humpy faces the other Chinese, Lei Tingjie, for a place in the final.
Time of India
a day ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Inspired Divya takes down Harika in rapid to face China's World No.8 Tan in semis; India confirms one Candidates berth
Nagpur: 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. 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. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals 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 qualifying 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."
