Divya holds Humpy to push final into tiebreaker
Mumbai, July 28 -- A more sedate draw in the second classical game of the FIDE Women's World Cup final between young Divya Deshmukh and the seasoned Koneru Humpy took matters into the faster tie-breaks on Monday to determine the new Indian champion at Batumi, Georgia.
Playing with white on Sunday, GM Humpy was expected to press for an advantage. Despite creating some chances towards the end to push her opponent into an awkward position, the two shook hands for a 34-move draw that was less dramatic than on Saturday. Still, speaking to FIDE after Sunday's game, the teen felt it could've been a much easier draw for her. "I got into some trouble for no reason," she said.
IM Divya has been the more adventurous finalist across the two classical games, but now enters into a rapid and blitz tie-breaks territory where her experienced opponent flaunts greater pedigree. Humpy, 38, is the reigning world rapid champion, a title she had also won in 2019. In the faster formats, as Divya herself called it, her opponent is a "really strong player".
"In rapid, Humpy is the current world champion. Even if it comes down to blitz, she has been a world No.2 before. I think Humpy could have better chances in rapid and blitz. Divya will have to play very carefully because of Humpy's judgement that tends to put her in better positions around the 10-minute mark," GM Pravin Thipsay told HT.
Divya, however, has also shown good form in the rapid format in this tournament. She won both her rapid matches against GM Harika Dronavalli to enter the semi-final. htc...
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