More than 25 days in Batumi, Georgia, India broke the long-streak of leadership by China over women’s chess. The FIDE Women’s World Cup has been marked by the brilliance of India’s Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy, as both ventured into the final match.
The Chinese delegation with nine players was capped off by Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie, who would end up playing in the third-place match. It has become a defining moment for Indian chess.
Chess icon Judit Polgar commented, “Indian chess is just unbelievable!” pointing to the moment as a possible sea change in international women’s chess. The triumph comes on the heels of India’s historic gold in last year’s Chess Olympiad, further cementing its status.
Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte, who captained India’s women’s team in the Olympiad, said, “Women’s chess particularly was always led by Russia and China. Divya’s victory is good for India.”
China’s Storied Legacy
China’s dominance is decades old, having given birth to six of the 17 women’s world champions, great legends such as Xie Jun, Hou Yifan, and Ju Wenjun.
They may not have won the World Cup in the last three events, but their might is still strong, particularly in the women’s world championships.
In the Olympiad, China had not sent a weaker team. However, in Batumi, barring Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun, their team included top prospectus.
India Rises with Depth
India equaled China in terms of strength and numbers, having nine players. The outcome was remarkable: four Indian players made it to the quarter-finals, as against three from China.
Standout performances were delivered by Priyanka K, Vantika Agrawal, and others, showing robust performances against tough opponents.
“Humpy’s team members. also reached the quarter-finals,” said Humpy’s coach Kushager Krishnater. “For the first time in women’s chess, we kind of outplayed the Chinese players.”
FIDE World Cup
The FIDE Women’s World Cup is considered one of the toughest formats, with players facing classical, rapid, and blitz tiebreaks in elimination rounds. Despite its difficulty, both veteran Humpy and young Divya excelled, outlasting many more experienced players.
India’s good performance; Olympic gold, World Cup gold and silver, and Asian Games silver has built hopes of winning a women’s world championship in the near future.
Kunte declared, “Now the way Gukesh has come and won the World Championship title, we expect that Divya will also follow the same line. They will hoist that flag even higher.”
