Chess
FIDE Women's World Cup: Divya, Humpy play out draws in first semi-final game
Divya and Humpy both held for comfortable draws with the black pieces.
Divya Deshmukh in action at the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup semi-final (Photo credit: Anna Shtourman/FIDE)
India's Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh played out draws in their respective first semi-final games at the 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Tuesday.
Humpy and Deshmukh – the first two Indian women to reach the World Cup semi-finals – were never really in trouble, despite starting the semi-finals with black pieces.
While Humpy played out a 38-move draw against Lie Ting Jie, Deshmukh shared points with Tan Zhong Yi after an even shorter 30-move game.
The draws with black pieces now mean that both the Indians can look to take risks in the second game with white pieces on Wednesday to try and force a decisive result in their favour.
If Humpy and Deshmukh win their second game, they'll book their spot in what will be a historic FIDE Women's World Cup Final for India. They will also book themselves a spot in the 2026 Women's Candidates, the winner of which will get to challenge Ju Wenjun for the ultimate crown in women's chess next year.
But if the Indians lose on Wednesday, they will face each other in the bronze medal match, starting on Saturday.
In case both the games end in a draw, the match will held into rapid tie-breaks which will be held on Thursday to decide the finalists.
