GM-elect Divya Deshmukh and GM Bibisara Assaubayeva have advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship. Divya, fresh off her FIDE Women’s World Cup victory, picked up right where she left off, winning 10-3 against GM Lei Tingjie. Assaubayeva had a more adventurous path, not pulling away from GM Zhu Jiner until the bullet section and getting by with a final score of 9.5-5.5.
The next two matches begin the Quarterfinals and will take place on Wednesday, August 13th. Women’s World Chamipon Ju Wenjun plays Assaubayeva at 9:30 a.m. ET / 15:30 CEST then GM Kateryna Lagno plays GM Alexandra Kosteniuk at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CEST.
Women’s Speed Chess Championship Bracket
Divya 10-3 Lei
It looked like the opening match of the day would be close, but Lei suffered from bad internet throughout and never seemed to find her footing.
5+1 Divya 3.5-0.5 Lei
The first game of the day was a solid draw, but Divya took the lead starting in the second game. It was mostly balanced, but Lei blundered in an endgame time scramble.
Divya won the next two as well to take a commanding lead heading into the 3+1 section.
3+1 Divya 4-1 Lei
In the 3+1 section, Lei was looking to strike back, but ran into considerable trouble with her internet connection. More than once she lost connection, costing her valuable time and even whole games.
Lei Tingjie seems to lose connection in an equal position, and with another win on time Divya’s up four points.https://t.co/pQ7H16zKR2#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/F7Trkt4M9U
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 11, 2025
Divya kept applying pressure, finding a nice tactic to win the seventh game and take a five-point lead.
Divya finds a brilliant discovered attack! Either way the bishop is taken, Black’s bishop on d4 falls and White wins a pawn.https://t.co/GLlVw5P0na#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/RCm2roy0d4
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 11, 2025
1+1 Divya 2.5-1.5 Lie
Lei scored her first win in the bullet section, but that was just a sign that the match was not going her way. Divya won this section as well to finish with an emphatic 10-3 victory in the match. She will need to continue her good form next to defeat GM Hou Yifan, the highest-rated player in the field by classical rating.
Assaubayeva 9.5-5.5 Zhu
Assaubayeva vs. Zhu was another hard-to-predict matchup and this one lived up to the billing, with the match tight the whole way. Neither player was able to push ahead significantly until the bullet section, where Assaubayeva dominated to punch her ticket to the Quarterfinals.
5+1 Assaubayeva 2-3 Zhu
The first section of the match was a back-and-forth struggle. Zhu equalized without much trouble in a Spanish Four Knights, as she did several times in the match and won with a mating net in the endgame.
Zhu won the second game as well before Assaubayeva fought back in game three.
Bibisara correctly judges that Black has no sacrifice that works on the kingside, so she grabs a pawn. Coldhearted!https://t.co/tlfmpWsDHH#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/vPRKGrxGKD
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 11, 2025
3+1 Assaubayeva 3-2 Zhu
Zhu ended the 5+1 section with a one-point lead, but she wasn’t able to build on it as the games got faster. Assaubayeva tied the match in the first 3+1 game. After two draws Zhu took another lead before Assaubayeva tied the match in a wild final blitz game. Zhu won a piece tactically, but Assaubayeva had two pawns for it and the safer king, which eventually decided the game.
1+1 Assaubayeva 4.5-0.5 Zhu
With everything tied after blitz, the bullet games were going to decide the match. Assaubayeva left no doubt regarding that section winning the first two games, giving up a sole draw, and then winning two more to close out the match. As is often the case in bullet, Assaubayeva took the lead on a blunder.
Assaubayeva advances to the Quarterfinals where she will face the defending WSCC champion Ju.
The 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, which takes place August 4-29, is a Chess.com event where some of the strongest female chess players in the world battle for a $75,000 prize fund. The main event sees 16 players compete in a single-elimination bracket in matches played at 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1 time controls.
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