Women's World Cup: Deshmukh and Koneru play tiebreak, Tan Zhongyi defeats Lei Tingjie

by André Schulz
7/28/2025 – With a victory in the match for third place against Lei Tingjie, Tan Zhongyi became the first player at the Women's World Cup to secure a spot in the Candidates Tournament. In the final, Divya Deshmukh and Humpy Koneru drew their game and will head into a tiebreak on Monday. | Photos: Anna Shtourman
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The top three finishers at the Women's World Cup qualify for the next Candidates Tournament, where the challenger for World Champion Ju Wenjun will be determined. Tan Zhongyi has become the first player to secure her spot.

The former World Champion and current Vice World Champion won the second game of her match for third place against Lei Tingjie. Playing Black, Tan faced an Italian Game and had to defend against a slight initiative after Lei sacrificed a pawn. Lei then launched a queen raid on the queenside, which Tan used as an opportunity to counterattack on the kingside.

In a tactically tense situation, both players overlooked a resource that would have allowed Tan to win immediately with a mating attack. Lei managed to fend off the attack at the cost of losing the exchange and reached a difficult but defensible endgame with queen and rook against queen, knight, and a pawn. However, both kings were exposed.

Lei failed to find the best defensive setup and allowed the transition into a rook-versus-knight endgame, which Tan converted with a study-like maneuver.

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Interview with Tan Zhongyi

Tan Zhongyi receives $25,000 for her third-place, along with her ticket to the Candidates Tournament. Lei Tingjie takes home $20,000.

In the final match, the second game between Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh also ended in a draw. Playing White, Koneru opened with a sequence often used by Vincent Keymer. This led to a quiet game in which Divya Deshmukh had few problems to solve. The world’s top U20 female player then steered the game toward simplification, after which she still had a few challenges to handle. The game ultimately ended in a draw by perpetual check.

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On Monday, the tiebreak will determine which player wins the Women's World Cup and which one "only" qualifies for the Candidates Tournament.

Interview with Divya Deshmukh

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.