No Matter Who Wins, India Will Win World Cup

India will win the FIDE Women’s World Cup being held in Georgia. The certainty about India’s victory is because both the semi-finalists belong to the country.

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy will face Divya Deshmukh at the World Cup Final on Saturday. Koneru Humpy fought a tough game to score a come-from-behind victory over China’s Tingjje Lei in the tiebreaker to set up an all-Indian summit clash against Divya Deshmukh.

With Humpy’s victory, both she and Divya are now qualified for the Women’s candidates’ tournament next year.

Having ended in a draw in the first two games in the normal time control, Humpy had to settle up with another 1-1 draw in the tiebreaker, consisting of two games with 15 minutes for both players with an increment.

In the next set of tiebreak games, Humpy had to really work hard. In the tiebreak games with 10 minutes for both the players with another increment, Lei got in the lead early in the set of these two games, as Humpy erred in the middle game to lose a pawn and get into a difficult endgame.

With Lei getting in command, Humpy could not find the best defensive resources to end in a draw. She lost another pawn on the queen side and despite the presence of opposite coloured Bishops in the endgame, white’s influence on both flanks tilted things in her favour.

Hump dominated the next game with the queen pawn opening to be good enough. Humpy won with her superior technique and her determination to turn the tide in her favour.

Winning the game meant that just a draw was needed for her to get in to the final, where she would face Divya.

Divya would need more technique and careful observation to move her pawns in the final when she would face the Grandmaster. Victory in the game would be prestigious for both of them but irrespective of who the winner is, India will clinch the World Cup.