Chess
FIDE Women's World Cup: Humpy defeats Yuxin Song; one draw away from semis
Vaishali, Divya, and Harika drew their matches.
Koneru Humpy at 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup (Photo credit: Anna Shtourman/FIDE)
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy moved a step closer to the semifinals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup with a clinical win over China’s Yuxin Song in the first game of their quarterfinal clash on Saturday.
Playing white, Humpy navigated the English Opening with clarity and precision. The game soon transposed into a Catalan-like structure, where the Indian star sacrificed a pawn in the centre to destabilize Black’s pawn structure. Song, unable to regroup after the concession, found herself two pawns down as the position opened up.
Humpy maintained her grip through the endgame, and though Song resisted for 53 moves, the result was never in doubt.
In the other quarterfinals, the all-Indian clash between Divya Deshmukh and D Harika ended in a quiet draw. Starting with a Ruy Lopez, Divya, playing white, adopted a rare system, but Harika’s preparation held firm. With queens off the board early and little imbalance on the board, the draw was agreed in 31 moves.
R Vaishali also settled for a draw against Tan Zhongyi, the former world champion. Vaishali opted for the Italian Opening with white but was unable to generate any serious advantage. She played the longest game of the day — 73 moves — but a rook-for-bishop exchange led to a balanced endgame.
Top seed Tingjie Lei of China was the other winner of the day, defeating Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia with the black pieces. In a sharp tactical skirmish, Lei capitalized on a transition to a hanging pawn structure, winning a knight and cruising through the endgame.
Quarterfinal, Game 1 Results:
Koneru Humpy (IND) beat Yuxin Song (CHN)
Tingjie Lei (CHN) beat Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)
R Vaishali (IND) drew with Tan Zhongyi (CHN)
Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew with D Harika (IND)
With three Indians still in contention for semifinal spots, Game 2 of the quarterfinals will be crucial. A draw would be enough for Humpy to progress, while the others must push for wins to avoid tie-breaks.
The Women’s World Cup offers a total prize fund of USD 691,250, with USD 50,000 for the winner. More importantly, it will determine three qualifiers for the next Women’s Candidates Tournament, the event that decides the challenger to reigning world champion Ju Wenjun.
