Mumbai, July 18: 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 pre-quarterfinals in the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup here on Thursday. Divya, the only Indian up a point and looking to make her maiden entry into the quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament, fell just short of achieving it when she blew up her position in the middle game arising out of a not-so-formal Scotch Opening. Divya, to her credit, tried her best but salvaging the resulting endgame was almost impossible. However, the Indian is still in the fray thanks to her first-round victory against the Chinese. FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025: Divya Deshmukh Shocks World Number Two Zhu Jiner; Other Indians Play Out Draws.

In fact, all the four Indians left in the fray are down to the tie-breaker. Koneru Humpy played another draw against Alexandra Kosteniuk, D. Harika played out a draw with Kateryna Lagno, while Meruert Kamalidenova of Kazakshtan kept R Vaishali in check to force a tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, three Chinese cruised into the quarterfinals. Lei Tingjie had little trouble getting a draw against Umida Omonova of Uzbekistan, Song Yuxin achieved the same result against Lela Javakhishvili of Georgia and Tan Zhongyi beat Yulia Osmak by drawing the second game comfortably.

The biggest surprise of the day came from local player Nana Dzagnidze who defeated Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine and showed her the exit door. The FIDE Women's World Cup is a knockout event based on two games in each round with a tiebreaker played with shorter duration of games to determine the winner. Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy Cruise Into Round of 16 of FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025.

The four Indian players will compete in the tiebreaker to secure a place in the quarterfinals. There is a total prize pool of USD 6,91,250 in all with the winner taking home USD 50,000. More importantly, there are three places up for grabs for the the next women's Candidates tournament that will determine the challenger for the next Women's World Championship.

Results Round Four Game 2: R Vaishali (Ind) drew with Meruert Kamalidenova 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Alexanndra Kosteniuk (Sui) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Kateryna Lagno (Fid) drew with D Harika (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Divya Deshmukh (Ind) lost to Jiner Zhu (Chn) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Tingjie Lei (Chn) beat Umida Omanova (Uzb) 1.5-0.5; Yuxin Song (Chn) beat Lela Javakhishvili (Geo) 1.5-0.5; Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) drew with Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Zhongyi Tan (Chn) beat Yulia Osmak (Ukr) 1.5-0.5.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)