Indians to play tie-breaks in Women’s Chess Cup

International Master Divya Deshmukh, who is waiting to become a Grandmaster, had a tough day in office as she was outplayed by Zhu Jiner of China in the return game of the pre-quarterfinals in the FIDE World Women’s Chess Cup.

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Divya, the only Indian up a point and looking to make her maiden entry into the quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament, fell just short of achieving it when she blew her position in the middle game arising out of a not-so-formal Scotch Opening. Divya, to her credit, tried her best but salvaging the resulting endgame was almost impossible.

However, the Indian is still in the fray thanks to her first-round victory against the Chinese.

In fact, all the four Indians left in the fray are down to the tie-breaker. Koneru Humpy played another draw against Alexandra Kosteniuk, D Harika played out a draw with Kateryna Lagno, while Meruert Kamalidenova of Kazakshtan kept R Vaishali in check to force a tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, three Chinese cruised into the quarterfinals. Lei Tingjie had little trouble getting a draw against Umida Omonova of Uzbekistan, Song Yuxin achieved the same result against Lela Javakhishvili of Georgia and Tan Zhongyi beat Yulia Osmak by drawing the second game.