Delhi, 20 July (H.S.): Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy defeated China’s Yuxin Song in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women’s Chess Cup on Saturday, showcasing her superior skills. Humpy, playing with white, expertly navigated the game from an English opening to a Catalan structure, launching an early central offensive that disrupted Song’s pawn structure with a pawn sacrifice. Overwhelmed, Song lagged behind, and despite her efforts, she ended up two pawns down after Humpy’s relentless attack, leading to a victory after 53 moves.

In another match, the all-Indian encounter between Divya Deshmukh and D. Harika ended in a draw, with solid play from both sides and little opportunity for advancement, concluding after 31 moves. Top seed Tingjie Lei from China triumphed against Nana Dzagnidze from Georgia, winning with black pieces. Lei’s strategic tactical play in the middle game led to a significant advantage and an eventual victory in a simplified endgame. R. Vaishali also drew with former world champion Zhongyi Tan after 73 moves, maintaining equality throughout a tightly contested game.

The tournament features a total prize pool of USD 691,250, including USD 50,000 for the winner, and offers qualifying spots for the next women’s Candidates’ Tournament.

Quarterfinal results game 1: Koneru Humpy (Ind) beat Yuxin Song (Chn); Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) lost to Tingjie Lei (Chn) (Ind); R Vaishali (Ind) drew with Tan Zhongyi (Chn); Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with D Harika (Ind).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar