Humpy escapes with a draw vs Kashlinskaya; Zhu beats Divya

Zhu Jiner bounces back with a win, tied with Koneru Humpy at FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Pune.

PUNE

After her terrible loss to Koneru Humpy, Zhu Jiner showed her resilience and class to post a badly-needed win that has rekindled her hopes of getting the top prize at the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix at Amanora-The Fern. The second seed from China, however, has Humpy for company at the top of the table going into Wednesday’s final round.

The top-seeded Indian was a bit lucky though, against Alina Kashlinskaya. Just when it seemed the fourth seed from Poland would finally be able to have something to cheer about after going through some harrowing time here, she blundered from what looked a winning position. Humpy could heave a sigh of relief, and she now has six points.

Even after the devastating loss, Kashlinskaya was able to keep her humour intact. “It is better that all things are going badly in one tournament rather than in different ones throughout the year,” she said.

Nothing went wrong for Zhu in her game against Divya Deshmukh though, after the two women began the day in the joint second position. Even after the defeat, Divya remains in second position, but one point behind the leaders.

The results (eighth round):  Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mng) 2.5 drew with Polina Shuvalova (Rus) 4.5; Zhu Jiner (Chn) 6 bt Divya Deshmukh 5; Alina Kashlinskaya (Pol) 3 drew with Koneru Humpy 6; Salome Melia (Geo) 2.5 drew with D. Harika 4; Nurgyul Salimova (Bul) 3.5 drew with R. Vaishali 3.

Final-round pairings: Vaishali v Melia; Humpy v Salimova; Divya v Kashlinskaya; Shuvalova v Zhu; Harika v Batkhuyag.