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K oneru Humpy vs Divya Deshmukh, FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 Final: Follow for all highlights from the tiebreaks of the World Cup final which happened in Batumi on Monday.
Divya Deshmukh became the 88th Indian to earn the title of Grandmaster courtesy her victory at the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025.
India’s Divya Deshmukh beat compatriot Koneru Humpy in tiebreaks to claim the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup title on Monday, in Batumi, Georgia.
Humpy had a brief chance to get back into the game. But she flounders and Divya capitalises. Humpy resigns. Divya wins the FIDE Women’s World Cup.
An ill-advised move from Humpy (Rxf4) allows Divya space to push her a-file pawn forward and now Divya has a potentially match-winning advantage.
Humpy decides to break the pattern by dangling her pawn at d5. Divya takes the bait, opening up the game. A queen trade ensues. A rook trade up next. The position has simplified rapidly. Divya with a pawn advantage.
With both players unwilling to shift their line away from the a-file, this game too looks destined for a draw. Or will someone take a risk?
Both players still retain their rooks and queen going into the endgame. Any result still possible. Divya though has a significant time advantage over Humpy at this stage.
Humpy and Divya bring their knights into play towards the a-file as a defensive game settles in. A knight trade gives Humpy a chance to erase Divya’s piece advantage.
The action has concentrated on the a-file as both players look to gain a foothold in the game. Humpy has formed a rook battery, along with her queen in the file. Divya follows suit.
Humpy has just seven minutes left on her clock, while Divya has more than 14. A clear indicator of how well Divya has played out the opening phase of this game.
Divya is the first to the trigger to castle. She goes short side and Humpy mirrors her.
Queen’s Gambit Declined: Catalan Opening for game 2 of the tiebreaks. Divya has eked out an advantage, gaining a pawn. She is leading both on the clock and the eval bar.
Humpy with white pieces this time. Can she make the advantage count. A win for either player in this game will seal the title.
Divya forced to dig deep on her clock to find the right move. Both players not ready to sign off on a draw.
Perpetual checks from Divya and finally the two players shake hands on a draw.
Humpy sacrifices her queen. She has a rook and a bishop against Divya’s queen in the endgame.
Couple of checks from Divya as the game drags into a draw.
Humpy persists with her queen trade offer and Divya continues to reject them. But, in the end of an error-strewn phase, Humpy seems to have gained an edge.
A few missteps from Humpy and Divya regains some ground. She has a chance to level things by taking up a pawn, but chooses to attack Humpy’s queen.
Humpy picks up the pawn and now offers a queen trade. Divya rejects it as she doubles down on an f-file attack.
Another slightly miscalculated move from Divya, as she leaves her central pawn undefended. Humpy’s advantage swells a little more. She can now put pressure on Divya’s g3 rook, with a knight move and then go a pawn up.
Another bishop-knight trade as Divya forces Humpy to bring out her queen and immediately attacks with her rook. Humpy sidesteps the threat.
Instead of progressing her dark-square bishop, Humpy backtracks the other one, closer to her kingside defence (g6). Dip in accuracy for Humpy too. Both players seems to be hesitant to simplify the position.
For the first time in this game, Divya is forced into a long think. The engine suggests she should activate her queen, with three equally good options available. But she goes with h3 as she looks to defend her kingside. The evaluation bar and accuracy tracker take a minor hit for Divya.
Humpy drives her knight all the way up before trading it for a bishop. She is looking to disrupt Divya’s piece structure, which already has an isolated pawn in the centre.
Divya castles to the short side and Humpy follows suit. Not much complication so far, as they find the suggested moves with ease. Both players have lost just two pawns each.
Divya to start the first rapid game of the tiebreaks. Petrov’s defence opening. An early pawn trade. A flurry of moves.
India’s Divya Deshmukh expressed her disappointment in the chances she missed in the first classical game of the FIDE Women’s World Cup final against compatriot Koneru Humpy.
I mean, I think it’s absolutely necessary to do that, otherwise you’re not going to perform well in the next game. I just tell myself that I have the rest of my life to be sad about it. So just don’t be sad today, and then we can be sad about it afterwards.
I was quite disappointed with the first game obviously, because I saw everything, and I just always ended up making the wrong choice. It was quite a pity. So yeah, the first game did not go my way and even though it was a draw, it kind of felt like a loss
The FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 final between India’s Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh will head into tiebreaks after the two played out a sedate draw in the second classical game on Sunday, in Batumi, Georgia.
Semifinal: Beat China’s Tan Zhongyi (2546) 1.5-0.5
Quarterfinal: Beat India’s Harika Dronavalli (2483) 3-1
Round 4: Beat China’s Zhu Jiner (2547) 2.5-1.5
Round 3: Beat Serbia’s Teodora Injac (2457) 1.5-0.5
Round 2: Beat Georgia’s Kesaria Mgeladze (2226) 1.5-0.5
Semifinal: Beat China’s Lei Tingjie (2552) 5-3
Quarterfinal: Beat China’s Yuxin Song (2410) 1.5-0.5
Round 4: Beat Switzerland’s Alexandra Kosteniuk (2474) 2.5-0.5
Round 3: Beat Poland’s Klaudia Kulon (2407) 1.5-0.5
Round 2: Beat Uzbekistan’s Afruza Khamdamova (2326) 1.5-0.5
Two-game match - 15 minutes for each player with a 10-second increment, starting from the first move.
Two-game match - 10 minutes for each player with a 10-second increment, starting from the first move.
Two-game match - Five minutes for each player with a three-second increment, starting from the first move.
Two-game match - Three minutes for each player with a two-second increment, starting from the first move.
Players keep contesting 3+2 games until a decisive result determines the match winner
The FIDE Women’s World Cup Final will be streamed live on FIDE’s YouTube channel.
Welcome to Sportstar’s Live Blog of the FIDE Women’s World Cup final tiebreaks, between Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh.
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