IMAGE: Koneru Humpy vs Divya Deshmukh: India’s first Women’s World Cup champion awaits. Photograph: Anna Shtourman/ FIDE
In a first for Indian chess, the FIDE Women’s World Cup will have a winner from the country with Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh set to fight it out in what could be anybody’s game in the grand finale in Batumi, Georgia on Saturday.
It’s the first in the event’s history that two Indians are facing each other in the final. Both Humpy and Deshmukh have qualified for the Women’s candidates’ tournament next year after reaching the final.
On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh.
Humpy held her nerves to score a come-from-behind victory in the semifinals over Tingjie Lei of China in the tiebreaker on Thursday, while Deshmukh defeated former world champion Zhongyi Tan — also of China — in the second game of the last-four stage match.
Grandmaster Humpy, 38, was the winner of the world women’s rapid tournament and also tied for first at the women’s grand prix in recent times and she has proved yet again that age is just a number. Her grit and determination has not faded one bit in the past many years.
“It’s one of the happiest moments for chess fans because now the title will go to India for sure. But of course, as a player, tomorrow will be quite a tough game as well — Divya has played tremendously well in this whole tournament,” Humpy told FIDE website.
At half the age of Humpy, International Master Deshmukh has already stunned as many as three players ranked in top ten in the event. Her first victim was second seed Jiner Zhu of China, before ousting D Harika.
The 19-year-old Nagpur-based Deshmukh then beat former women’s world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the semifinals.
“I just need some sleep and some food, these days have been so anxious for me,” Deshmukh said after entering the final.
“I think I could have played much better. I was winning at a certain point and then it got complicated. I think I messed up in the middlegame and that I should have had a much smoother win,” she said about her semifinal match.
“She put up such a great fight at a certain point. I was just doubting if it was just a draw — I think I got lucky in the end.”
Humpy was stretched to the tiebreaker in the pre quarterfinals by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland and she followed it up with a clinical performance against Yuxin Song.
Her best, thus far, was reserved for the semifinals as she outclassed top seed Tingjei Lei of China in the five minutes’ games after the players had reached a 3-3 deadlock.
“I played a bit shaky in the rapid, but she also gave a very good fight. It could have gone either way,” Humpy said about her semifinal opponent.
“It was a very tough match. Initially, I played quite badly with the Black pieces and she always had the advantage. After the loss (in Game 3), it was a very difficult situation, but I was able to come back.”
Saturday’s final will also be played over two classical games and if the results stand at 1-1, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
The minimum take away for finishing second here is USD 35000 while the winner will take home USD 50000.
The additional bonus is qualification to the next Women’s Candidates tournament in which both the Indians have reserved their seats now. The 8-player Candidates tournament will decide the challenger for reigning world champion Wenjun Ju of China in the next world women’s championship match.
Humpy has the ability to sit through long games without making mistakes. Deshmukh, on the other hand, has an attacking style. It is going to be a battle of wits in the final that starts after a lone rest day.
