Nineteen-year-old IM Divya Deshmukh has reached the Semifinals of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup after winning the all-Indian tiebreak clash with GM Harika Dronavalli 2-0. Divya dominated an impressive first game before Harika came very close to hitting back in the next. When she couldn’t, however, it was Divya who was through to play a semifinal against GM Tan Zhongyi. It’s GM Lei Tingjie vs. GM Koneru Humpy in the other semifinal.
The Semifinals begin on Tuesday, July 22, starting at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.
Women’s World Cup Quarterfinal Results
| Fed | Player | Rtg | – | Fed | Player | Rating | G1 | G2 | TB |
| GM Nana Dzagnidze | 2505 | – | GM LEI TINGJIE | 2552 | 0-1 | 0-1 | |||
| GM KONERU HUMPY | 2543 | – | IM Song Yuxin | 2410 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| GM Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2481 | – | GM TAN ZHONGYI | 2546 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| IM DIVYA DESHMUKH | 2463 | – | GM Harika Dronavalli | 2483 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 2-0 |
There was only one tiebreak game on Monday in Batumi, and it was the all-Indian battle between experienced star Harika and rising talent Divya.
Both players had already come through tiebreaks, with Harika beating IM Stavroula Tsolakidou and GM Kateryna Lagno in four games each time.
Divya had needed tiebreaks just once, overcoming the formidable GM Zhu Jiner in two games.
She commented afterward: “When I initially went into the tournament I knew that I didn’t want to play any tiebreaks, but that is not my fate, but ok, so far so good!”
When I initially went into the tournament I knew that I didn’t want to play any tiebreaks, but that is not my fate!
—Divya Deshmukh
Once again, Divya got off to a winning start, and she credited her coach for the big role that opening preparation played in the game.
Divya soon had 17 minutes on her clock compared to the 15 minutes she’d started with, only needing to think when Harika had already gone slightly astray. 24…Rxe5? was then the moment at which Divya’s advantage grew to winning proportions.
She correctly played 25.Bd4! and later got to sacrifice that monster bishop on g7 to all but wrap things up.
That’s our Game of the Day, that has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
This wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Harika, however, who had also lost the first tiebreak game against Lagno before hitting back. This time she came close again, with Divya admitting, “I don’t think the last game went well!”
Harika’s kingside fianchetto opening was relatively modest, but worked out well, especially when Divya offered her opponent the advantage of the bishop pair. By move 18 the computer was championing the b5-break as a winning plan, demolishing Black’s queenside.
Harika went for 18.e4 instead, which still kept a significant edge.
It was only when Divya seemed to have done everything to secure the draw, in fact, that Harika gained her clearest opportunity to prolong the match. 63.Bf4! would force an exchange of bishops, after which the black king and knight will struggle to defend both the g6-pawn and the queenside pawns against White’s king and bishop.
That idea was missed, however, and when Divya managed to pick up a pawn all hope of Harika winning the game evaporated. The “blunder” that followed was no worse than making a quiet draw, and Divya went on to wrap up the tiebreak 2-0.
Divya Deshmukh is overwhelmed with emotions as she beats Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in tiebreaks to reach a Women’s World Cup semifinal against Tan Zhongyi! https://t.co/t9GrIeQbzR pic.twitter.com/zwoYoRJPf1
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 21, 2025
“I think I’m happy with the way I played!” said Divya, and she had every reason to be so.
Now Divya will take on Chinese former Women’s World Champion Tan, while her Indian compatriot Humpy also faces Chinese opposition in the form of top-seed Lei. Victory in the Semifinals will already mean a guaranteed place in the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, so the stakes are high!
Women’s World Cup Semifinal Pairings
| Fed | Seed | Player | Rtg | – | Fed | Seed | Player | Rating |
| 1 | GM Lei Tingjie | 2552 | – | 4 | GM Koneru Humpy | 2543 | ||
| 3 | GM Tan Zhongyi | 2546 | – | 15 | IM Divya Deshmukh | 2463 |
How to watch?
The 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup takes place at the Grand Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Batumi, Georgia. It is a 107-player tournament with a single-elimination knockout format and a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move from the first move. Each round consists of two games at the classical time control, followed by a tiebreak in faster time controls in case the scores are tied.
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