The fifth leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-25 continued in Pune yesterday with rising star Divya Deshmukh getting the better of her compatriot R Vaishali.

Divya, the youngest participant and a wild-card entrant, dismantled Vaishali in a sharp Ruy Lopez game. The turning point came on the 17th move when Vaishali’s bishop move to g4 allowed Divya to launch a decisive counterattack with Nxf6. This blunder shifted the engine evaluation from a slight advantage for Divya to a commanding position. Vaishali resigned after 26 moves, marking Divya’s second consecutive victory in the tournament.

Divya was later quoted as saying "I was rather lucky to glance through this variation just five minutes before the game. Didn’t expect it to end so quickly." 

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With this win, Divya is now in joint lead alongside China’s Zhu Jiner. Divya had earlier defeated Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova in the first round.

In the Koneru Humpy vs Salome Melia (Georgia) match, the Indian played a balanced game. The match transitioned into a queen and rook endgame, where both players agreed to a draw after precise exchanges. Humpy remains undefeated in the tournament but is yet to secure a win.

Harika Dronavalli  had a challenging time against Zhu Jiner, the tournament’s top seed. Playing the French Defence, Harika delayed castling in an attempt to open a file toward Zhu’s king. However, her position weakened by the 26th move, and Zhu capitalised on the opportunity, forcing Harika to resign after 52 moves.

The Pune leg is the penultimate event in the Grand Prix series, with two spots in the Women’s Candidates Tournament at stake.

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