 "Grandmaster Koneru Humpy and International Master Divya Deshmukh in action during the all-Indian final of the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. Image: FIDE")
The FIDE Women’s World Cup final between Grandmaster Koneru Humpy and International Master Divya Deshmukh was off to a sedate start in Batumi, Georgia on Saturday with the two Indians playing out a draw. Divya played as white in the first Classical game of the final, which began with a Queen’s Gambit opening, and managed to hold her ground despite committing a blunder with her knight (12. Nxc4) along with a couple of other questionable moves.
It wasn’t just the two Indians playing out a draw on Saturday, with the all-Chinese showdown between Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi for the third place also ending in a 34-move stalemate. Lei and Tan had lose to Humpy and Divya respectively in the semi-finals, the latter in the tie-breaks where she was leading 3-2 at one stage.
Humpy and Divya set up exciting Day 2 of World Cup final
With Humpy and Divya collecting half-a-point each as a result of the stalemate in Game 1, the second Classical game that takes place on Sunday becomes something of a decider so long as one of the two emerges triumphant.
Should both Classical games end in a draw, the winner of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup will be decided through a series of tie-breaks with decreasing time controls, starting with two 15+10 games following by two 10+10 games.
Divya will be hoping to secure her Grandmaster title without having to collect the three norms required to attain that status by virtue of being crowned World Cup champion. Humpy, on the other hand, will be aiming to collect her second major triumph in less than a year after being crowned women’s rapid champion for the second time in her career last December.
Both finalists have qualified for next year’s Women’s Candidates and will be accompanied by the winner of the Lei vs Tan face-off.