Divya Deshmukh beats Humpy to win Women's World Cup, becomes Grandmaster
Batumi (Georgia) (PTI): Teenaged Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh earned the biggest success of her career by clinching the FIDE Women's World Cup with a tie-break win over compatriot and more experienced Koneru Humpy here on Monday.
The victory not just earned the 19-year-old the prestigious title, but also made her a Grandmaster, something which looked improbable when she started the tournament.
The victory for the Nagpur player came after the two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday ended in draws.
Having drawn the two classical games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive as Humpy lost her nerves. Except the World Cup and the Women's World Championship, Humpy has won everything under the sun but, as fate or nerves would have it, the World Cup title eluded her.
Divya showed steely resolve on Monday, and the bonus for the determination was the Grandmaster title, reserved for the champion of this event.
For the record, Divya became the 88th Grandmaster of the country and if she continues to remain resolute in her endeavour she has the ability to achieve great success.
Divya is now the fourth Indian woman player to achieve the GM feat after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali.
Humpy, 38, became a Grandmaster in 2002 and Divya was only born in 2005. Divya was a bundle of energy as she kept piling pressure on Humpy in the opening tiebreaker, tiring out her illustrious opponent and then going for the kill in the second tiebreaker.
Out of a Petroff defense, Divya got an isolated Queen pawn middle game and sacrificed a pawn to give Humpy better prospects in the opening tiebeaker. However, Humpy returned the favour with her clock ticking away, and soon enough she was staring at a position where she had a rook, bishop and a pawn against Divya's Queen.
The position, however, remained close to being equal and Humpy drew quite easily in the end.
In the return game, Humpy employed the Catalan opening and again Divya was well prepared as she equalised without much ado. Humpy had sacrificed a pawn early but the ensuing queen-and-rook endgame was just a draw.
It was on the 40th move that Humpy lost her cool and tried to invade the opposition through a pawn sacrifice. Divya could have done better but the rook-and-pawns endgame she reached was still a draw.
This was Divya's day as Humpy again ran a bit short of time and blundered in the endgame again, leading to a theoretically won position for Divya.
The fortunes in this game fluctuated between a draw and a win for Divya for a long time, till the Nagpur girl prevailed.
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Pakistan extends airspace closure for Indian planes till May 24
New Delhi (PTI): Pakistan on Tuesday extended the closure of its airspace for Indian planes till May 24 as the curbs will now remain in place for more than a year.
In the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, that killed 26 people on April 22 last year, India and Pakistan have closed their respective airspaces for each other's planes. While Pakistan airspace has been closed for Indian aircraft since April 24, 2025, Pakistan planes are not permitted to use the Indian airspace since April 30 last year.
According to a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), Pakistan airspace is not available for Indian registered aircraft and aircraft operated/owned or leased by Indian airlines/ operators, including military flights.
The ban will be applicable from April 21 till 2359 hours (UTC) on May 23, which translates to 0530 hrs (IST) on May 24, as per the NOTAM issued by the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA).
It is now nearly a year since the Pakistan airspace ban came into force that has also resulted in Indian carriers taking longer routes for various international destinations.
Meanwhile, India has barred Pakistan aircraft from using its airspace till 0530 hrs on April 24, and the restriction is expected to be extended.
The ban, part of various measures taken by the Indian government against Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, was initially till May 24, 2025 and has been subsequently extended every month.
Generally, a NOTAM is a notice containing information that is essential for personnel involved in flight operations.
