Divya Deshmukh Takes Lead at FIDE Women's Grand Prix After Vaishali Slip

By: WE staff | Wednesday, 16 April 2025

• Divya Deshmukh took an upset lead in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix by beating R Vaishali in a mere 26 moves
• Zhu Jiner won over Batkhuyag Munguntuul to join Divya at the number one spot in the leaderboard

Divya Deshmukh staged a comeback victory at the FIDE Women's Grand Prix, leading after R Vaishali made an early mistake, enabling Divya to finish the game in 26 moves. Zhu Jiner also made a stunning win against Batkhuyag Munguntuul, bringing her to the same score as Divya at the top. The rest of the games — Melia Salome vs. K Humpy and Polina Shuvalova vs. Nurgyul Salimova — also ended in closely contested draw.

Within 50 minutes and 26 moves, 19-year-old Divya won convincingly against R Vaishali in Round 2 of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix. During the game, Vaishali, who was playing black in a tight Ruy Lopez Tarrasch opening, sacrificed a strategic chance with Re8 on move 17 and instead created a misdirected attack against Divya's queen with Bg3.

This resulted in a quasi-forced queen exchange and with Divya on the verge of winning a rook via a discovered check, Vaishali decided to resign. In the meantime, Zhu Jiner beat Mongolia's Batkhuyag Munguntuul with the black pieces to become joint leader alongside Divya with 2 points. The rest of the games in the round were drawn: Melia Salome against K Humpy, Polina Shuvalova against Nurgyul Salimova, and D Harika against Alina Kashlinskaya. Commenting to FIDE upon her win, Divya humbly said, "It's not a real win."