Koneru Humpy scripted historical past by turning into the primary Indian lady to achieve the semifinals of the FIDE Girls’s Chess World Cup. A composed draw within the second recreation of her quarterfinal conflict towards China’s IM Tune Yuxin was sufficient to seal her spot within the remaining 4.Regardless of a number of minor inaccuracies through the recreation, Humpy maintained management, choosing a protected and strategic method. Ultimately, Yuxin provided a draw — a end result that secured Humpy’s historic development.Humpy had taken the higher hand earlier, successful the primary recreation of the two-game quarterfinal collection in Batumi on Saturday evening.In one other quarterfinal, an all-Indian conflict between Harika Dronavalli and rising star Divya Deshmukh remained carefully contested. Enjoying with the white items, Divya opted for the Slav Protection: Trendy Line, however Harika stored her at bay all through. The duel stretched to 60 strikes earlier than each gamers agreed to a draw, with no decisive breakthrough.In the meantime, Vaishali Rameshbabu’s spectacular marketing campaign got here to an finish after she was outplayed by China’s third seed, Tan Zhongyi.High seed Lei Tingjie of China continued her dominant run, defeating Georgia’s Nana Dzagnidze for a straight path into the semifinals. Humpy will now face Tingjie in a blockbuster semifinal showdown, whereas Tan Zhongyi awaits the winner of the Harika vs Divya matchup.The stakes are excessive — the highest three finishers on the World Cup will qualify for the Candidates Match later this 12 months. With at the very least one Indian assured of a semifinal berth from the Harika-Divya tie, India is assured illustration within the subsequent stage of the world championship cycle.Quarterfinal outcomes: Koneru Humpy (Ind) beat Yuxin Tune (Chn) 1.5-0.5; Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) misplaced to Tingjie Lei (Chn) 0-2; R Vaishali (Ind) misplaced to Tan Zhongyi (Chn) 0.5-1.5; Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with D Harika (Ind) 1-1 goes to tiebreaker.
