NEW DELHI, July 28: The 19-year old Divya Deshmukh etched her name into chess history defeating fellow Indian compatriot Koneru Humpy with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tiebreaks of the FIDE Women’s World Cup Final in Batumi, Georgia, to clinch the crown to become the first-ever Indian champion of the esteemed tournament on Monday.
Deshmukh will now receive $50,000 as their prize money on top of the coveted trophy. But more importantly, Divya, who is an IM, will now be promoted to a Grandmaster, as the 19-year-old now becomes the 88th Indian GM.
The Indian players, who were left tied at 1-1 each after the two classical games in the Final, entered the tiebreaks on Monday to decide the ultimate winner. So, it all boiled down to two Rapid matches of 10 minutes with a 10-second increment after every move.
Having won the toss the previous night, Divya once again got the luck of the draw, opting to start the tiebreaks with the white pieces in the first Rapid game. In Rapid Game 1, Divya played her natural game, attacking Humpy out of the gate and forcing the veteran to yet again burn the clock early. With no second time control in the tiebreaks, the pressure was on Humpy to yet again find the draw.
She did nothing but the same, as the cold-blooded, calm veteran started to push with her queen, taking the attack to the youngster. The pressure ultimately forced Divya to make an error, who blundered and left her central pawn unguarded, opening the gates for Humpy to come in for the attack.
Humpy tempted Divya to take a Queen Exchange, which was denied, and then, with the clock ticking, was forced to sacrifice her Queen in a last-ditch attempt to find the kill. But, as fate would have it, the duo ultimately decided on the inevitable draw, preparing to play for all glory in the second Rapid game.
More of the same from the first Rapid game ensued in the second game as well, as Humpy was yet again pushed to her limits, as Divya forced the veteran to burn down her clock effectively.
After 30 moves, Humpy, playing with just about a minute left on her clock (compared to Divya’s six), found her form yet again under the pump, as a quick flurry of moves ensued amongst the two Indians, who were trying to pry the other’s weakness.
Divya found her break on move 40, as Humpy blundered with a pawn, allowing the youngster to activate her Queen and hunt for a win against the veteran. But, Humpy fought off the advancing Divya, pushing them to a rook endgame, with the 19-year-old holding an extra pawn.
A final-minute blunder from Humpy gifted Divya the window to advance her pawn to potentially be promoted, putting the veteran in a world of trouble. Despite pushing the youngster to a muddy endgame, it was far too gone for Humpy, who ultimately resigned on move 75, gifting the title to Divya.
Both finalists already made history, becoming the first-ever Indians to qualify for the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup, after which both players went on to schedule the first-ever All-Indian final at the event.
Game 1 of the Final was a nail-biting draw, which saw Divya throw away her lead with the white pieces, allowing the veteran Humpy to fight her way back into the game and force the draw. Game 2 on Sunday saw the duo battle it out in yet another fascinating draw, where Humpy seemingly lost the advantage of starting with the white pieces, as the young buck Divya fought her way back to force the veteran to tiebreaks.
(Manas Dasgupta)