Media365
India’s Koneru Humpy secured a spot in the FIDE Women’s World Cup final after defeating China’s Tingjie Lei in a thrilling semi-final match that stretched to eight games on Thursday. The intense battle saw Humpy emerge victorious with a final score of 5-3, setting up an all-Indian final against Divya Deshmukh.As a result, India are assured of gold and silver medal from the FIDE Women’s World Cup – a first. Additionally, both Humpy and Deshmukh have qualified for Candidates Tournament. One of Tingjie Lei or former World Champion Tan Zhongyi will take another spot for the Candidates when they meet in the third-place contest.The semi-final began with two classical games between Humpy and Tingjie, both ending in draws without either player gaining an advantage. The deadlock continued into the tiebreak phase, where the first two rapid games also resulted in draws, leaving the score tied at 2-2.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The breakthrough came in the third rapid game of the tiebreak, with Tingjie capitalising on a mistake by Humpy in the endgame to take the lead. This put the Chinese grandmaster ahead 3-2 in the match.Facing elimination, Humpy displayed resilience with the white pieces in the next game. She executed a strong performance to defeat Tingjie and level the match at 3-3, forcing the contest into blitz games.The first blitz game proved decisive for Humpy, who started with the white pieces and established a strong position from the opening. The game evolved into a complex middle-game with both players having approximately 23 seconds remaining on their clocks.Despite time pressure and multiple blunders from both sides, Humpy maintained her composure to win the first blitz game, taking the lead in the match at 4-3. She followed this success by winning the second blitz game with black pieces, securing the match with a final score of 5-3.
