FIDE Women’s World Cup: Koneru Humpy becomes first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals

Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy has reached the semi-finals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 being played in Batumi, Georgia. She is the first Indian woman chess player to reach this far. She defeated China’s Song Yuxin to secure her place in the semi-finals.

Humpy held the Chinese player to a draw in the second game played on Sunday. Earlier, she had taken the lead by winning the first game of the two-game quarter-final series in Batumi on Saturday night.

In another quarter-final, there was a tough contest between Harika Dronavalli and rising star Divya Deshmukh. However, the decision on one of them going to the semi-finals will be taken after the second game to be played on Monday.

Earlier, Humpy had secured her place in the quarter-finals by defeating former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland 1.5-0.5 in tie-breaks.

For the first time, four Indian women players reached the quarter-finals

For the first time in this tournament, four Indian women players reached the quarter-finals. Apart from Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R. Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh confirmed their place in the quarterfinals.