Divya Deshmukh, the young IMfrom Nagpur, Maharashtra, continued her remarkable rise in the world of chess. She did stunning victory over GM Harika Dronavalli in Batumi. In a tense rapid tiebreak, Divya secured a clean 2-0 win, eliminating one of India’s most experienced players and advancing to the semi-finals.
With this victory, Divya has become only the second Indian woman after GM Koneru Humpy to reach the semifinals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup tournament. The match was tightly contested in the classical segment, but Divya grabbed her opportunity in the first tie-break. When Harika made a crucial error in the endgame. In the second tie-break game, Harika had chances to bounce back, but she missed a couple of winning opportunities. And Divya made her pay for it. As a result, Harika’s campaign came to an end, while Divya marched on with great composure and maturity.
