International Master (IM) Divya Deshmukh of City began her campaign for the chess world championship with a decisive victory in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 2400 Elo Divya defeated WIM Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa Azhar from Malaysia 1.5-0.5 in the first round of the women’s section.
228 players are competing in the Open and Women’s sections for the top three spots in each group that will advance them to the Candidates event, the last round of qualification for the World Champion. In the event of a tie after two traditional rounds, a tie-break round will be required.
World Cup chess campaign
Divya was partnered with 2004-rated Women International Master (WIM) Puteri in the round of 64 of her maiden senior world cup. In the first game of the first round, Divya made the most of her initial advantage with the white pieces by choosing the standard Kings Pawn opening while Puteri chose the Sicilian defense. After a close match, Puteri made a mistake on the 33rd move, giving Divya the advantage of a pawn.
Following that, it was simply a matter of making some precise movements, and Divya took use of the advantage to further pressure Puteri into resigning on the 41st move.
- Divya Deshmukh wins the chess world championship in Baku.
- Divya wins pawn match with WIM Puteri in senior world cup round 64.
- Divya faces experienced Hungarian Grandmaster Hoang Thanh Trang in the second round.
After winning the first game, Divya was only needing a draw to advance to the next round. With her black pieces, the 17-year-old played strong defense and finished the drawn-out game in 71 moves.
Divya chose the Caro-Kann defense in response to Puteri’s King Pawn opening and played precisely throughout to split the points and advance.
Divya is happy with the outcome of his campaign and is presently ready for his matchup with seasoned 2402 Elo Hungarian Grandmaster Hoang Thanh Trang. Trang, a 43-year-old Hungarian of Vietnamese descent, recently defeated WIM Abdi Zineb Dina by a score of 2-0.
