FIDE Women’s Grand Prix: Humpy and Divya conclude with draws in final round

Indian chess players Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy concluded their tournament with draws in their final-round matches at the second leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Friday.

The experienced Humpy played a quick 36-move draw against Kateryna Lagno, finishing in 5th position with 4.5/9 points. This marked her third consecutive draw of the tournament.

Divya Deshmukh, following her compatriot, also drew her final-round match after a marathon 48 moves against Germany's Elisabeth Paehtz, playing with the black pieces. She concluded the tournament tied for fifth position, also with 4.5 points.

Throughout the tournament, Divya showed consistent performance, drawing seven of her nine matches and claiming a notable victory against Batkhuyag Munguntuul of Mongolia.

Aleksandra Goryachkina won the tournament with 7 points after a final-round draw, while Tan Zhongyi of China finished as the runner-up with 6.5 points.

Grand Prix Standings

This tournament marked the second of a six-leg series, which serves as a qualifier for the 2026 Women's Candidates Tournament. The top two players from the six events will secure their spots at the marquee event.

India has four players participating in this series: R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, and Harika Dronavalli.

Both Humpy and Divya earned 55 Grand Prix points for their tied fifth-place finishes, placing them outside the top five on the current leaderboard.

After the first two legs, Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva leads the Grand Prix standings with 182.5 points, followed by Greece’s Stavroula Tsolakidou in second place with 149.17 points.

With each player set to compete in three Grand Prix events, the standings remain open as the series progresses.