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The race to the FIDE World Women’s Chess Cup title has become more interesting with the quarter-finals set to get underway from Saturday, July 19. The World Cup offers three spots to the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, set to happen in the first half of 2026. The 107-player tournament commenced on July 6 and was running non-stop until Tuesday, July 15 after which the qualified contestants faced each other in the round of 16. In the pre-quarterfinal bout, the Indian contingent gave a testament of their superiority over their opponents.
All four Indians, Grandmasters Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, and R Vaishali and IM Divya Deshmukh won their tiebreaks to advance to the last eight stage of the FIDE World Women’s Chess Cup. These players have scripted history as India became the first country to have four contestants in the top eight stage of the tournament. GM Koneru Humpy overcame her opponent Alexandra Kostenuik with a 1.5-0.5 margin, IM Divya Deshmukh defeated Chinese GM Zhu Jiner in the tie-breaks after both players finished level at the end of the Classical games.
Harika Dronavalli to face Divya Deshmukh in QFs
GM Harika Dronavalli bounced back with grit with white pieces to reach the second tiebreaker as she lost the first rapid game with black against GM Kateryna Lagno. She clawed her way through in the fourth game of the tiebreak with a brilliant endgame display. In her round of 16 bout, GM R Vaishali defeated Kazakhstan’s Meruert Kamalidenova. With all four Indians in the final eight, one quarter-final bout will feature a clash of Indian contestants as Harika Dronavalli will face Divya Deshmukh.
While Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali will face Chinese players Song Yuxin and Tan Zhongyi respectively in their quarter-final matches. The quarterfinals will get underway from July 19, Saturday and will conclude with the tie-breaks on Monday, July 21. The performance of the Indian contingent has kept the hopes alive for a top three finish for now.
