Divya, Zhu Win Again To Lead Pune Women's Grand Prix With 2/2
GM Zhu Jiner and IM Divya Deshmukh won their second games on Tuesday and lead the 2025 Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix with a perfect 2/2 score. Whereas Zhu needed 66 moves to grind down IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul in a rook endgame, Divya was the first to win as GM Vaishali Rameshbabu mixed up her moves in the opening.
The games IM Salome Melia vs. GM Humpy Koneru, IM Polina Shuvalova vs. IM Nurgyul Salimova, and GM Harika Dronavalli vs. IM Alina Kashlinskaya ended in draws. Round three starts on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:30 a.m. ET / 11:30 CEST / 3:00 p.m. IST.
Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 2 Results
Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix Standings After Round 2
Not only in terms of results but also in preparation, Divya has had a dream start in Pune so far. The 19-year-old IM from Nagpur had guessed the London System right on the first morning, and was even luckier the next day when she decided to check a topical line in the Open Spanish five minutes before the game.
If that wasn't enough, her GM opponent Vaishali basically gifted her a full piece by mixing up the move order: playing her bishop to g4 one move too early, before moving her rook. We've all been there.
A humble Divya said afterward: "It’s not a real win because she just messed up the move order. I was so surprised that she went 17...Bg4 that I thought, I am hallucinating because, isn’t this just better for me? And it’s almost winning."
Asked if she noticed anything that suggested her opponent realized the mistake, Divya said: "I sensed it a little bit but she didn’t give me the full sign."
In what was a completely different type of game, Zhu scored her second win as well, this time with the black pieces vs. Munguntuul. Opening theory wasn't really relevant here, but rook endgame technique certainly was.
It was a thankless task to defend the position with pawns and double rooks after the time control, and the Mongolian player can hardly be blamed for failing to hold it. As it turned out, she should have used both rooks to harass the enemy king on the eighth rank.
One of the more interesting clashes tomorrow will be Desmukh defending her lead against her highly experienced compatriot Humpy. The latter couldn't break through from the black side of a Scotch Four Knights as Melia played it with little ambition but at the same time extremely solidly.
Harika and Kashlinskaya seemed in for a fight, both having started with a loss the other day. It was a fairly standard King's Indian middlegame position where the players went for a move repetition as early as move 24. Shuvalova didn't get much as White vs. Salimova's Scandinavian Defense and also repeated moves, in a queen endgame, just before the time control.
Round 3 Pairings
How to watch?
You can watch the broadcast on Chess.com India's YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated 2025 Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Rakesh Kulkarni and Sahil Tickoo.
The 2025 Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix is the fifth of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. The 10-player round-robin runs March April 14-23 in Pune, India. Players have 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes from move 40, with a 30-second increment per move. The top prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with players also earning Grand Prix points. Each of the 20+ players competes in three events; the top two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament that decides the World Championship challenger.
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