Grandmaster Koneru Humpy held China's Tingjie Lei to a comfortable draw with black pieces, while Divya Deshmukh's solid defence frustrated former women's world champion Zhongyi Tan in the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals in Batumi, Georgia, on Tuesday.
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A former school principal of newly crowned chess champion from Nagpur Divya Deshmukh remembers her as a student with calm composure who started playing the board game when she was just five and also excelled in studies.
Koneru Humpy edged Chinese GM Lei Tingjie in the tiebreaks in the semis to set up an all-Indian final against compatriot Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup.
With her family in tow, Humpy met the PM and described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime privilege."
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced a significantly relaxed dress code for next month's World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Doha, "allowing classic non-distressed jeans for both men and women", a year after the 'jeansgate' storm involving Magnus Carlsen at the same event.
The Indian women chess masters will continue to keep the country's flag flying at the on-going FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 at Batumi, Georgia.
International Master Divya Deshmukh, who is waiting to become a Grandmaster, had a tough day in office as she was outplayed by Zhu Jiner of China in the return game of the pre-quarterfinals in the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Thursday.
Teen prodigy Divya Deshmukh stunned seasoned grandmaster Koneru Humpy in a tense tiebreak to win the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, rewriting Indian chess history at just 19.
While only one place seems assured for the Indians in the men's section, there are already three in the women's category who have made it to the Candidates.
The tie-breaker, which will be a series of shorter-duration games, will be played on Monday to determine the winner.
Divya Deshmukh earned the biggest success of her career by clinching the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup with a tie-break win over compatriot Koneru Humpy.
Speaking to reporters, the CJI said his father and late KG Deshmukh were very close friends.
Grandmaster R Vaishali was so crestfallen following seven straight losses in the Chennai Grandmasters that she had made up her mind to pull out of the Grand Swiss tournament, but family support steered her to the event where she won the title to qualify for the Candidates next year.
D Gukesh will take on Magnus Carlsen in the opening round in what should be one of the most keenly-contested matches at the Norway Chess tournament.
Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh made a huge stride forward, defeating second seed Jiner Zhu of China in the first game of the pre-quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
Ace Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy once again demonstrated her strength in positional play as she defeated Polina Shuvalova of Russia in the fourth round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Pune on Thursday.
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 (Pune leg) title on the basis of her superior tie-breaks over Zhu Jiner of China after the two players were tied for the top spot on Wednesday.
Divya Deshmukh not only became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women's World Cup, she also instantly secured the prestigious Grandmaster title.
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Indian chess stalwarts Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika ended their high-profile contest in a quick draw in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Pune on Friday.
Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
Deshmukh thanked the CM and the people of Nagpur for felicitating her.
The stars competing at the Norway Chess event were in for an authentic Wild West surprise when they had to don cowboy hats, roper boots, well worn-out jeans to indulge in some rodeo activity.
'I always prefer to just play a single tournament and go back home, spend time with my family and have a one-month break and then take part in another one.'
With Vantika's hard-earned victory there are still five Indians left in the last 32 stage of this US$691,250 prize money event with an additional bonus of making it to the Women's candidates' tournament slated in 2026 for the top three finishers.
On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh.
'Most of my birthdays I end up losing the game, so glad it did not repeat in the classical. When I was playing, I felt fine, but when I was losing, I was like, 'ok, not again'.
Koneru Humpy defeated China's Zhu Jiner to jump into sole lead with 5.5 points after the seventh round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Pune on Monday.
...'you are 37. It's quite difficult when you get older to keep that motivation and stay sharp when required.'
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh was welcomed by hundreds of supporters and her family upon her arrival in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has said she was not under any kind of pressure while playing the FIDE Women's World Cup final against compatriot Koneru Humpy as she had "nothing to lose".
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar believes Indian chess is riding a wave of success and predicted a bright future for the sport in the country.
'Sandbagging' means a player deliberately losing his games, along with it his rating points, so as to play in a lower rated player tournaments and win cash prizes.
Reigning World champion Dommaraju Gukesh's roller-coaster ride continues. The Indian Grandmaster suffered defeat in an Armageddon tie-break and slipped to tied-fifth place, while Arjun Erigaisi upset American world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura to maintain fourth position in the Norway Chess tournament.
Gukesh suffers crushing loss against Nakamura, Erigaisi wins in Norway Chess
'Again this year was not going well, I was working very hard but somehow the results were not going my way, this win is very crucial.'
Divya Deshmukh came to the star-studded FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, as an underdog, hoping to at least win one Grandmaster norm in her journey to become a GM in the future.
India has a bright future in chess as we have many players in top 10 rankings: Humpy
