Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
India versus China — there is a subplot brewing in the heat of the women’s chess World Cup. There were four Indians and three Chinese in the quarter-finals. Now, it’s come down to two versus two. Going by world rankings and performances in big events, it’s advantage China. But having come this far and given a good account of themselves in the process, the Indians will be formidable underdogs.
Koneru Humpy admits that as far as aspirations go as a chess player, she doesn’t think about winning the big prizes anymore. “I used to think of becoming the world champion when I was younger, but I have stopped doing that. These days, I play to do whatever best I can as a player,” she said in an interview with the official channel after the fourth round of the World Cup.
With the burden of expectations off her thought process, Humpy has given ample evidence of playing with renewed vigour. After a string of impressive outings including winning the women’s world rapid championship late last year, the 38-year-old is leading the Indian challenge at the ongoing event in Batumi in Georgia. Humpy has secured a place in the semi-finals, and one out of D Harika and Divya Deshmukh will join her there after their quarter-final tie-breaker on Monday (July 21).
This means there will be two Indians and as many Chinese in the last four of this tournament, from which, the top three will be rewarded with berths in the Candidates. The next challenger to the reigning world champion (Ju Wenjun of China) will be chosen from that eight-player event. The situation guarantees that at least one Indian will make the Candidates cut from the World Cup.
Humpy has been the most consistent Indian performer in Batumi so far. World No. 36 Song Yuxin of China wasn’t the strongest of opponents for the No. 5 in the last eight. Before that, the Indian had eliminated former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Up next is top seed and world No. 3 Lei Tingjie. Chinese players have kept the women’s world crown since 2016. They occupy the top three positions in the world rankings. Of the handful of players who can topple them, Humpy is one.
About taking on the Chinese, Divya has already delivered the surprise of the tournament by knocking out world No. 6 Zhu Jiner in the pre-quarters. The reigning world junior girls’ champion could not find a way past Harika in the two-legged classical part of the quarter-finals, where both games were drawn. Be it her or Harika, it will be a first World Cup semi-final for both following the tie-breaker to be played under shorter time controls.
Whoever reaches the semi-finals from the clash of the Indians, will face a tough opponent in world No. 3 Tan Zhongyi of China. R Vaishali fought till the end against the former world champion in the second game of their quarter-final bout with black, after a draw in the first, but bowed to her rival’s determination to press until she squeezed something out of equal positions. It’s this steel and tenacity that the Indians will be wary of in the semi-finals.
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