Chess | FIDE Women’s World Cup: India stars Humpy, Deshmukh hold firm with semifinal draws

In their first games of the FIDE Women’s World Cup semifinals, India’s Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh secured draws against their Chinese opponents, Tingjie Lei and Zhongyi Tan, respectively. Humpy, playing black, comfortably neutralized Lei, while Deshmukh’s solid defense thwarted Tan’s attempts. With the return leg seeing both Indians playing white, their chances of advancing look promising.