Humpy, Divya set to battle it out in tie-breaks as Game 2 of Women's Chess World Cup final ends in draw

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy and International Master Divya Deshmukh are set to battle it out in the tie-breaks in their all-Indian final at the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia after their second Classical game also ended in a draw.

Humpy held Divya to a draw playing as white despite the latter enjoying a considerable time advantage over her at one stage in Game 2, with the two players shaking hands after 34 moves via a three-fold repetition.

As for the all-Chinese third-place playoff, world No 8 Tan Zhongyi defeated top-seed Lei Tingjie – ranked two places above her on the FIDE ratings – in 55 moves to become the third and final player to qualify for next year's Women's Candidates Tournament from the World Cup.

After Game 1 between the two players had ended in a draw, Tan defeated Lei with black pieces in the second Classical game in which they had a rook and a knight respectively left on the board. The game might have finished a lot earlier after a 34th-move blunder by Lei but she fought on and nearly took the contest into the tie-breaks.

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Little to separate Humpy and Divya after Reti Opening

The game kickstarted with a Reti Opening with Humpy advancing knight to f3, with Divya following suit in the following move (Nf6). Exchanges began as early as the seventh move with both players losing a pawn. By move 13, Divya and Humpy had lost a bishop and a knight respectively and had also castled.

The two Indians continued to trade punches thereafter, with both sets of rooks getting knocked off the board by the 18th move – from where the game started developing towards a queen's endgame.

Divya also had a considerable time over her opponent at one point – which was over 30 minutes before she consumed 15 minutes for her 21st move (Ne4). The 19-year-old, who is aiming to achieve the Grandmaster title without having to go through all the norms simply by winning the World Cup, couldn't translate that gap into an advantage on the board.

Humpy, after all, matched her move for move, with the eval bar remaining somewhat even between the two throughout the course of the second Classical game. Divya later initiated a repetition by offering Humpy a check with her queen, which her experienced compatriot accepted as the two opted to drag their battle into the final scheduled day of the competition.

The tie-breaks that take place on Monday will have two rapid games with 15+10 time controls followed by two more with 10+10 time controls. That is followed by two blitz games (5+3) if the two players remain level followed by a series of 3+2 blitz games until a decisive result is achieved.

Given Humpy had been crowned women's rapid world champion for the second time in her career as recently as December, she certainly will be fancying her chances in the tie-breaks, in which Divya starts with the white pieces on Monday.