In a historic second for Indian chess, all four remaining gamers, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, R Vaishali, and International Master Divya Deshmukh, have stormed into the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup. The achievement drew particular reward from FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky, who wrote on X, “All four Indian players make it through tie-breaks. Quite a feat! Congrats to Humpy, Divya, Harika and Vaishali! At the same time, kudos to Zhu Jiner, Kosteniuk, Lagno and Kamalidenova, who had an excellent run, and were just a bit short to make it to quarterfinals.”The path to this milestone was something however simple. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!All four Indians had been pushed to the restrict within the pre-quarterfinals, with their destiny determined in tense tie-breakers after drawn classical video games. Koneru Humpy overcame former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, whereas Harika Dronavalli edged out Kateryna Lagno in a gripping contest. Rising star R Vaishali defeated Kazakhstan’s Meruert Kamalidenova to proceed her spectacular run, and 19-12 months-outdated Divya Deshmukh held her nerve after a setback towards China’s Zhu Jiner within the return sport to seal her spot.Earlier, Divya had been India’s greatest hope for a direct qualification after profitable her first sport, however a middlegame slip within the Scotch Opening pressured her into speedy tie-breaks. Displaying exceptional composure, she bounced again to maintain India’s good document intact.
Meanwhile, three Chinese gamers, Lei Tingjie, Song Yuxin, and Tan Zhongyi, secured clean progress to the final eight, whereas Georgian veteran Nana Dzagnidze shocked former world champion Mariya Muzychuk to advance.The Women’s World Cup, a excessive-stakes knockout occasion, carries a complete prize fund of USD 691,250, with the winner claiming USD 50,000. Beyond the prize cash, three coveted spots within the Women’s Candidates Tournament, resulting in a World Championship problem, are up for grabs. With four Indians among the many elite eight, the match has taken on historic significance for Indian chess, signalling the nation’s rising dominance on the worldwide stage.