Zhu Wins Again As Humpy, Divya Stay In Hunt
GM Zhu Jiner beat IM Alina Kashlinskaya in round four to retain the sole lead in the 2025 Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix on 3.5/4. Just half a point back are local heroes GM Humpy Koneru and IM Divya Deshmukh, who picked up wins against IMs Polina Shuvalova and Salome Melia respectively. IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul was on course to join them but blundered and lost to IM Nurgyul Salimova, while the only draw was also a miss—GM Harika Dronavalli repeated moves in a winning position against GM Vaishali Rameshbabu.
Round five starts on Friday, April 18, at 5:30 a.m. ET / 11:30 CEST / 3:00 p.m. IST.
Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix Round 4 Results
There was just one draw in round four, but all five games could easily have been decisive.
Pune FIDE Women's Grand Prix Standings After Round 4
Zhu kept up her ferocious pace, but Humpy and Divya are in hot pursuit.
Zhu 1-0 Kashlinskaya
We just witnessed the second women's world championship match in a row between two Chinese players, with GM Ju Wenjun retaining her title. The dominance extends to the live rating list, where five of the top six players are now Chinese.
The biggest challenge to China, however, may be time, with their top players in their thirties or close to that. The exception, however, is 22-year-old Zhu, who plays the Grand Prix series as a replacement for GM Lei Tingjie. She looks destined for great things, after tying for first place in Cyprus and now dominating the start of the Pune Women's Grand Prix in India.
In round four she ultimately bamboozled Kashlinskaya in a complicated Italian middlegame position which became highly tactical when 18...f5 was met by 19.Bc1!, relying on the pin down the d-file (19...fxe4 20.dxe4 and the d5-knight can't move).
The moment Zhu felt she had chances was when she got to play 23.d4!, after which Black's position crumbled in the space of a few moves.
Zhu explained afterward that her approach to chess was to enjoy it rather than focus on results. What does she enjoy? "Think, calculate, check my game after. Try to find my mistake and try to improve!"
Zhu is on an almost perfect 3.5/4, but two players are within half a point.
Shuvalova 0-1 Humpy
Humpy's second win in a row was an impressively one-sided game that perfectly lived up to what the Indian grandmaster said is her approach to chess: "I don’t rely too much on engines. I try to play practical positions where we can play with a general understanding."
I try to play practical positions where we can play with a general understanding.
—Humpy Koneru
It almost felt like the critical mistake was Shuvalova's 8.h3!?, which Humpy called "a bad move, because my king is still in the center," since after the reply 8...g5! the rest of the game saw Black smoothly grow an edge in piece and especially king activity.
Melia 0-1 Divya
While those two games were relatively smooth, Divya's bounce-back win first involved getting into trouble. She didn't know Melia's 9.Ne1 in the opening and said her opponent simply got a pleasant position. She regretted allowing the white queen to come to h5, and admitted she played 15...b5!? more in desperation than anything else: "At this point honestly I didn’t find a move, so I thought let’s just play b5 and see what she does!"
Little changed until Melia's 21.f4?, of which Divya commented, "it didn't even cross my mind." That left a gaping hole on e4 and turned the tables, so that the rest of the game was only a question of whether Divya would be able to grind out a win. She did, winning a pawn on move 58 and clinching victory 20 moves later.
Munguntuul 0-1 Salimova
Divya and Humpy were almost joined by Munguntuul. Her opponent, Salimova, had already suffered two defeats, and played the losing move 31...Rc7? with only 11 seconds on her clock. Munguntuul only had one minute 25 seconds herself, however, and immediately went astray. By the time the dust settled, it was just a case of Salimova converting her advantage!
There was also one draw, though it didn't have to end that way!
Harika ½-½ Vaishali
This was an absolute crazy game, and it was completely understandable that the players were both ready to accept a draw by repetition at the end. Nevertheless, it turns out Harika should have rejected a peaceful outcome, despite being down three pawns!
That draw left Harika 1.5 points, and Vaishali two points behind the leader.
Round 5 Pairings
In round five, the last before a rest day, Zhu has Black against Salimova, while Humpy and Divya both have the white pieces, against Harika and Shuvalova respectively.
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.
Previous coverage:
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
