Both games were drawn in game one of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup Finals, but neither of them was dull. IM Divya Deshmukh gained a massive advantage as early as move 10 and even sacrificed a piece, but GM Koneru Humpy got away. In the match for third, GM Lei Tingjie outplayed her compatriot GM Tan Zhongyi but then accepted a draw offer in a much better position.
Game two of the Finals is on Sunday, July 27, starting at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.
Women’s World Cup Semifinal Results
A decisive game two would win the entire match in either case. Divya and Humpy fight for the title, while Lei and Tan fight for the third qualification spot into the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament.
Divya ½-½ Humpy
We can say that game one was a serious missed opportunity for Divya. In an extremely sharp opening—which followed the game GM Evgeny Bareev-GM Vasyl Ivanchuk Linares 1992 for eight moves—she had the potential to even win a miniature with a piece sacrifice. After mutual mistakes, however, the biggest miss of the game was in the following position, where 14.Qe2! was winning. Divya traded on b7 first, and then played 15.Qe2, but after Black’s 15…Nc6 with the idea of 16…h5 White could win her piece back, but not more.
The game didn’t end there, however, and we saw the players contest an equal, but tense, heavy-piece endgame. At one point, Humpy could have claimed a draw on move 29 but refused to, and then Divya’s 30.Kh2 continued the game, with just two minutes against 10. Neither player got burned for continuing the game, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.
Humpy showcased her sharp calculation in the interview after the game. She first pointed out that 12.Rb1 was an improvement over the game for Divya, and then also saw that 15.Qe2 was extremely dangerous (though she didn’t say winning). The computer confirms not only her assessments but also matches the lines she shared.
As for her mistake 13…Kf8?, the move 13…Kd8 was an improvement she didn’t seriously consider. Instead of giving a hard line for this, she made the choice intuitively, “I felt this was the wrong move.” Finally, again correctly, she knew “I’m out of the danger” after she played 16…h5, when Black escaped into an equal endgame.
We have one more classical game before potential tiebreaks, and it will be Humpy behind the white pieces next time around.
Tan ½-½ Lei
In the match for third place, we saw the main line in the QGD Exchange Variation. But instead of opting for the popular 11.Qc2 or 11.f3, Tan went for a third option: 11.a4 and gaining space with the later 13.a5.
Though White had more space on the queenside, she didn’t really find any breakthrough. Meanwhile, Black gained ground with her own rook pawn on the other side; 18…h5 and 19…h4 provoked a weakening 22.h3. From there, Black gained a significant advantage. The game ended abruptly, however, as White offered a draw on move 43 and Black accepted.
Both matches could end on Sunday, but otherwise we will see one last set of tiebreaks the day after. Who do you think will win? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
How to watch?
The 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup takes place at the Grand Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Batumi, Georgia. It is a 107-player tournament with a single-elimination knockout format and a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move from the first move. Each round consists of two games at the classical time control, followed by a tiebreak in faster time controls in case the scores are tied.
Previous coverage:
