Batumi, Georgia – 21st July 2025 – 19-year-old Indian IM Divya Deshmukh pipped compatriot GM Dronavalli Harika 2-0 in rapid tiebreaks to down her opponent in the second round of the Women’s World Cup on Monday evening securing her berth in the semifinals. After both classical games were a draw, Divya dominated the faster controls with accurate and with nerves of steel play
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| Divya Deshmukh Enters Semifinals of 2025 |
Tactical Genius is Rapid Play
The reason behind it is Divya systematically dismantled the position of Harika in the first rapid game, generating an early lead by exploiting errors and then material sacrifices to go decisive, gaining it by capitalizing on her early inaccuracies and taking the initiative in an early position in the first rapid game and was won by her.
The second was quite a heated game; Harika was on the verge of making a comeback but lost in the endgame instead. Divya tied a blunder on move 61 and used the position on move 63 to win a pawn majority and achieved victory on move 76
🏆 Semifinal Showdowns & Candidates Spot
With Divya advancing, the semifinals now feature:
Matchup Players
🇮🇳 vs 🇨🇳 Divya Deshmukh vs Tan Zhongyi
🇮🇳 vs 🇨🇳 Koneru Humpy vs Lei Tingjie
The stakes are high: the top three finishers secure places in the prestigious 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament, the next step toward the World Championship cycle
Quotes In Context
Divya recalled her wars:
When I first came in the tournament I knew that I did not want to play any tiebreaks, but that is not the plan, but ok, so far so good!
She also thanked her team members and how opening practice was very vital in earning the opening victory.
The Implication of It to the Chess of Indian Women
India already has a locked in berth in the Candidates event- and Divya or Humpy could secure another based on results
It is an important milestone: with four Indian players (Divya, Humpy, Harika, and Vaishali) making it to the quarterfinals, two of them have now reached the last four- a sign that India is getting stronger in women chess.
What’s Next?
Tuesday, July 22Tuesday is the beginning of semifinals, in which Divya will play World No. 8 Tan Zhongyi, and Humpy will play the top seed Lei Tingjie
A win earns a place in the Candidates Tournament and maintains the dream of one day becoming a contender to the Women World Championship.
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