FIDE Women’s World Cup: Divya Deshmukh loses to Zhu Jiner as all 4 Indians reach tiebreaks in pre-quarterfinals

They would have preferred to finish the job in Classical play, but all four Indian women chess players remain in contention as their pre-quarterfinal matches at the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 head into tiebreakers. Divya Deshmukh was pushed into faster time-control tiebreaks after losing to world No. 6 Zhu Jiner in the second Classical game on Thursday in Batumi, Georgia, a day after she had stunned the Chinese Grandmaster in the first game.

Other Indians in the tiebreakers are R Vaishali, Koneru Humpy, and Harika Dronavalli, who played out two draws respectively in their pre-quarterfinals. Koneru Humpy faces the Russian-Swiss chess grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk, Harika Dronavalli will take on Kateryna Lagno of Russia and Vaishali Rameshbabu will be up against Kazakhstan’s Meruert Kamalidenova.

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Deshmukh succumbs to Jiner in second Classical game

The 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh from Nagpur needed just a draw against Jiner to qualify for the quarter-finals, but the second seed hit back by forcing the Indian to resign after 57 moves. “I needed to win, so I did not play my main opening,” Jiner said after beating Deshmukh. “I think she made mistakes…I am very happy to win in the end. After today’s game, I feel a bit confident, so tomorrow I will just try to focus on chess and enjoy my game.”

Meanwhile, China’s GM Lei Tingjie, GM Tan Zhongyi and IM Song Yuxin have also qualified for the quarter-finals with draws in their respective second Classical games, while GM Nana Dzagnidze advanced after beating former World Champion GM Mariya Muzychuk.

What’s the format for tiebreakers?

A tiebreaker in the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 is played if there’s no clear winner after two classical games. In the tiebreakers, which will be played over a single day, the time control will keep reducing with every game.

The players will begin with two games using the 15+10 time control format. They will start with 15 minutes on the clock, and for each move they make, 10 seconds will be added to their remaining time.

If there’s no clear winner after the first two games in tiebreakers, then both players will play two games with 10 minutes + 10 seconds (10+10) time control, followed by two more games of five minutes + three seconds (5+3) time control, if needed.

If the match remains levelled after six tiebreaker games, then the winner will be decided through sudden death, in which players will be required to play a single game with 3 minutes + 2 seconds (3+2) time control. They will keep playing the 3+2 game as long as a winner is not found.