Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh made a huge stride forward, defeating second seed Jiner Zhu of China in the first game of the pre-quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup on Wednesday.
Divya was rejuvenated after the first rest day of the event as she outplayed the much higher ranked Zhu and is now just a draw away in the return game to make it to the quarterfinals.
It was a Sicilian defense by Zhu that met with some original response from Divya as she gained control in the centre and then slowly nurtured her position.
Zhu is not someone who can be kept quite for long and her instinct to get some counterplay towards the end of the first time-control proved quite risky as Divya effectively converted to a better Queen and minor piece endgame.
With her Queen and knight creating havoc soon after, Divya faced no troubles in scoring an important victory.
Top rated Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy played out a hard-fought draw with former world women's champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland. The Berlin defense by Humpy gave an optical advantage to the Russian-turned-Swiss but the Indian held on to her own to split points.
D Harika played an enterprising game but had to settle for a draw with Kateryna Lagno who is playing under the FIDE flag here. Harika sacrificed a couple of pawns but her Bishop pair always gave her enough play for the lost material.
The other Indian in the fray, R Vaishali also signed the peace treaty with Meruert Kamalidenova of Kazakhstan. Vaishali did not get much out of the opening and all minor pieces changed hands to let the position remain level in the ensuing heavy pieces position. The draw was a just result.
Among other fancied players, top seed Tingjie Lei of China defeated Umida Omanova of Uzbekistan while the two remaining Chinese players, Zhongyi Tan and Yuxin Song, also started on a winning note against Yulia Osmak of Ukraine and local hopeful Lela Javakhishvili respectively.
The event is now tantalisingly poised with four Chinese and four Indians left in the fray. At stakes are top three places that will guarantee a berth in the next Women's Candidates' tournament.
In each round except the finals, the players play two games each under Classical time control and in case of a tied result, games of shorter duration are played to determine the winner.
Results round 4 game 1: R Vaishali (Ind) drew with Meruert Kamalidenova; Alexanndra Kosteniuk (Sui) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Kateryna Lagno (Fid) drew with D Harika (Ind); Divya Deshmukh (Ind) beat Jiner Zhu (Chn); TIngjie Lei (Chn) beat Umida Omanova (Uzb); Yuxin Song (Chn) beat Lela Javakhishvili (Geo); Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) drew with Nana Dzagnidze (Geo); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) beat Yulia Osmak (Ukr).
