In her first tournament since a historic triumph at the FIDE World Cup, Divya Deshmukh took down Chinese GM Lei Tingjie 10-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship 2025 on Monday.
The 19-year-old Divya, who became a Grandmaster herself after winning the World Cup in Georgia last month, dominated Lei in her opening-round clash. She will take on three-time World Champion Hou Yifan, another Chinese GM, for a place in the semifinals on Thursday.
R. Vaishali, the other Indian in the field, was eliminated after losing 6-8 to American IM Alice Lee last week.
Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online event with a single-elimination bracket featuring 16 players. While eight are qualifiers, eight have been directly invited. The total prize money is USD 75,000, with the winner set to take home USD 7,000.
All matches consist of three segments. In the opening round and the quarterfinals, the players play 5+1 games (time control of 5 minutes with an increment of one second per move) for 45 minutes, followed by 3+1 games for 30 minutes and finally, 1+1 games for 15 minutes. In the semifinals and the finals, the remaining competitors play 5+1 games for 75 minutes, followed by 3+1 games for 50 minutes and finally, 1+1 games for 25 minutes.
Winning a game gives one point, while a draw means both players get 0.5 each. The player with the most points at the end of the final segment wins the match.
After the first segment, Divya led 3.5-0.5. She further tightened her grip on the match as the scoreline read 7.5-1.5 in her favour after the second segment. The Indian also won the final segment 2.5-1.5 to seal a convincing victory.
