In a historic milestone for Indian chess, International Master Divya Deshmukh went down in the history books as the first Indian female to reach the final of the FIDE Women's World Cup.
She beat former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the second semifinal match on Wednesday, winning the mini-match 1.5-0.5.
This historic triumph not only propelled Divya into the tournament final but also gave her a spot in the eagerly awaited Candidates' tournament—a first for any Indian woman. The Candidates' tournament will decide the next challenger to women's world champion Wenjun Ju.
Divya’s path to the final has been nothing short of spectacular. She earlier ousted second seed Zhongsu Jhu of China and then defeated fellow Indian Grandmaster D Harika in a tense quarterfinal, earning a reputation as the tournament’s giant killer.
With Indian male players making waves globally, the emergence of young talents like Divya—following in the footsteps of R Vaishali—signals a new era for Indian women in chess.
Against Tan in the semifinal encounter, Divya played with white and used the Alapin variation against the Sicilian Defence. Exchanging her bishops for Tan's knights on strategic grounds, she entered a comfortable endgame with an extra pawn. Tan had her moments in the middlegame but was unable to hang on to the position.
Despite Tan's fierce resistance, it was Divya's queenside passed pawn that eventually won the day. The marathon battle went to 101 moves before Tan resigned, securing Divya's spot in the final.
While in the other semifinal, Grandmaster Koneru Humpy drew her second game with tournament top seed Tingjie Lei of China. With white, Humpy steered the Slav Defence by adopting the exchange variation hoping to level or push for a minor advantage.
Although the position was not generous in the opening stage, Humpy was able to acquire the bishop pair and a slim material advantage with an extra pawn in rook-and-pawn endgame. In spite of that, her advantage was not enough to win and the game ended in a draw after 75 moves.
Humpy and Lei will now confront each other in a tie-breaker to determine the challenger to play Divya in the final encounter.
Read also| Gambhir Backs Injury Replacements in Tests; Stokes Dismisses Idea as ‘Ridiculous’
Read also| Root's 150 and Stokes' Unbeaten 77 Power England to 186-Run Lead Over India in 4th Test
