Drawing her recreation with IM Salome Melia was sufficient for GM Zhu Jiner to turn into the only chief on the 2025 Pune FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix with 2.5/3. That was as a result of co-leader IM Divya Deshmukh misplaced her first recreation, with the black items to GM Humpy Koneru.
Like Humpy, GM Harika Dronavalli scored her first win within the event, towards IM Nurgyul Salimova, whereas IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul picked up her second win on the expense of IM Alina Kashlinskaya. GM Vaishali Rameshbabu vs. IM Polina Shuvalova was a draw.
Spherical 4 begins on Thursday, April 17, at 5:30 a.m. ET / 11:30 CEST / 3:00 p.m. IST.
Pune FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix Spherical 3 Outcomes
Pune FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix Standings After Spherical 3
38-year-old Melia from Georgia is just not one of many grandmasters within the group, however has now held two GMs comfortably to a draw – Humpy the opposite day, and the event chief as we speak. It was an extended maneuvering recreation that led to a dead-drawn rook endgame on transfer 76. Vaishali and Shuvalova fought for it as nicely, earlier than splitting the purpose on transfer 63.
Zhu leads by half some extent due to Divya’s loss to Humpy, who performed a very highly effective recreation as we speak with the white items. After her opponent “missed” the odd-looking laptop suggestion 14…Nbc2, Humpy took the initiative, bought a positional benefit and simply by no means let go, ending in her typical calm-but-firm positional type.
After a considerably bumpy begin, Harika bought her first win. Additionally on this recreation, there have been some unsure moments for her, however finally she managed to transform a promising endgame. She properly outplayed her opponent within the middlegame however began to see some ghosts whereas getting decrease on time. “I saved lacking strikes,” she mentioned afterward. “I attempted to be not upset and simply attempt to play the most effective.”
It was Mongolia’s Munguntuul who truly gained the primary recreation of the day, utilizing a contemporary line within the Queen’s Gambit Declined. The setup with …h6 and …g5 was first launched on the high stage by GM Vladislav Artemiev again in 2016, and it does look very fascinating. Munguntuul positively marketed it as we speak with a powerful attacking recreation:
Spherical 4 Pairings
Methods to watch?
You possibly can watch the published on Chess.com India’s YouTube channel. The video games can be checked out on our devoted 2025 Pune FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix occasions web page.
The reside broadcast was hosted by IM Rakesh Kulkarni and Sahil Tickoo.
The 2025 Pune FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix is the fifth of six legs of the 2024-2025 FIDE Ladies’s Grand Prix. The ten-player round-robin runs March April 14-23 in Pune, India. Gamers have 90 minutes, plus half-hour from transfer 40, with a 30-second increment per transfer. The highest prize is €18,000 (~$20,000), with gamers additionally incomes Grand Prix factors. Every of the 20+ gamers competes in three occasions; the highest two qualify for the 2026 FIDE Ladies’s Candidates Match that decides the World Championship challenger.
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