It’s all about the endgame!
Press release by FIDE
The Women’s Grand Prix Pune leg is gradually becoming one of the most interesting events of 2025. Not a day goes by without a few amazing games, interviews and highlights.
Thursday’s fourth round produced none less than four decisive outcomes. The fifth one, that ended in a draw, could also easily have had a winner.
And what about the endgames? Both Divya Deshmukh and Humpy Koneru finished-off their opponents by pushing their connected passed pawns in rook endgames, while Nurgyul Salimova took down Batkhuyag Munguntuul in a bishop and knight v. rook finale!
With these results, Zhu Jiner still leads the event with 3½/4, just half a point ahead of Divya and Humpy. With five rounds to go, it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top at the end.
The ceremonial first moves were performed by Ms. Shakuntala Khatavkar, an International Kabaddi player, who opened the game for Polina Shuvalova, while Mr. Sunil Phulari, Special Inspector General of Police, and Mr. Amit Sharma, General Manager of the Fern Hotel, opening for Humpy.
Let’s take a closer look at this afternoon’s games.
Round 4 results
Ms. Shakuntala Khatavkar playing the honorary first move | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
Polina Shuvalova 0–1 Humpy Koneru
Based on her recent results in this opening, I was definitely surprised to see Humpy choosing the Closed Italian game, even more when she went for the sharp 8…g5 line. She must have noticed something in Shuvalova’s playing style and decided to take advantage.
Possibly afraid of a direct attack on her king, Polina opted for the exchange of queens, a sequence that the engine does not approve. The ending was comfortable for India’s number one. Moreover, following round-three’s display of technique against Divya, Humpy was going for the win.
First, she invaded the second rank with her rook, and then started to push her passed pawns, which finally became too much for Shuvalova, who decided to resign on move thirty-three.
Humpy clocked in an amazing 99.7 accuracy score: a perfect game!
Humpy Koneru | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
Harika Dronavalli ½-½ Vaishali Rameshbabu
With four Indian players in the event, there will be a derby every day. In addition, all four of them know each other very well – they are the backbone of the national Olympic team. It is therefore understandable that they try to surprise their opponents with lesser-known ideas, or positions that they have never faced before.
Although she has a broad repertoire with Black, Vaishali has always been an enthusiastic follower of the Grünfeld defence, and has played it at the highest level, even against Harika!
But this time Harika had prepared a relatively new and fashionable idea with 9.Rb1 instead of 9.0-0 followed by 12.Qd2 – elite GM Le Quang Liem has tried this out in the past. She achieved a strong passed pawn on d6, a typical feature in these lines, and obviously one that is very dangerous.
Of course, her plan was not without risk: two pawns were the price to get her d-pawn to the seventh rank.
In this position, three pawns down and apparently without a clear plan to win, Harika understandably forced a threefold move repetition with 30.Qh5+ Kg7 31.Qe5+ Kh6 and the game ended in a draw.
However, the computer finds a win by means of 30.Re1!, a move which is not obvious at all – can you really just stop everything to protect your bishop while three pawns down?
The main idea is to play 31.g4 and 32.g5 mate, and it’s not at all easy to stop this plan without further material loss. Of course, 30.g4 straight away would drop the bishop, allowing the black king to escape via h5.
One of the most entertaining games of the day, even though it ended in a draw.
Harika Dronavalli v. Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Abhilash Shinde
Zhu Jiner 1–0 Alina Kashlinskaya
The second win of the afternoon confirmed the lead for Zhu Jiner, on a mission in Pune to achieve her second straight WGP first place. Her opponent in round four, Alina Kashlinskaya, is struggling to find her form. Zhu explained after the game:
It was a very complicated opening, and there were a lot of lines that I did not check too much, so I just tried to play in a logical way. After 23.d4 I took over the initiative and then she fell into time-trouble and wasn’t able to find the best defensive moves.
Kashlinskaya’s position collapsed after 26…g5, weakening her king position in an attempt to find counterplay, and Zhu Jiner mopped up effortlessly.
Check out her post-game interview with IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer of the event, in which she explains her thoughts on the game and why she enjoys playing chess.
Batkhuyag Munguntuul 0–1 Nurgyul Salimova
Another Caro-Kann Defence on the board! Salimova has been playing this solid opening for most of her career, so it was no surprise to see it appear this afternoon. However, in an attempt to avoid home preparation, Munguntuul shelved her usual 2.Nc3 + 3.Nf3 setup and brought back the Advance Variation, which she actually stopped playing in 2018.
As usual, the Mongolian number one opted for the trendy Nd2-b3 and quick-a4 plan, but Salimova hit back fast with 10…g5, and after a few inaccuracies by both players the position was a mess.
With both players in heavy time trouble, the key moment came after 31…Rc7?
Salimova had transferred her rook to e4, and now it was about to be captured. Munguntuul played 32.Nxe4? losing all of her advantage, whereas the correct 32.Qxh6! with mating ideas on the back rank would have led to a decisive advantage.
Another mistake a couple of moves later left her in a very bad ending with a rook against two pieces, and this time Salimova did not give her a second chance.
Salimova joined IM Michael Rahal after the game for a post-game interview, in which she also went into detail on her confidence levels and how tough it is to be a professional chess player.
Salome Melia 0–1 Divya Deshmukh
The final game of the afternoon ended in a decisive result for one of the frontrunners in the event. With the win, Divya advances to three points and, along with Humpy, is now hot on the heels of Zhu Jiner.
Although Divya is more of a Sicilian player and, more recently, a French Defence player, she went for the Caro-Kan this time around, a line that she plays every now and then to mix it up. She probably had noticed that Salome played the Exchange Variation against Michalina Rudzinska in the 2023 European Individual Championship and prepared accordingly.
By exchanging her light-squared bishop on f5, Divya voluntarily weakened her kingside in exchange for a tighter grip on the e4-square and, in the end, getting these positional advantages proved to be the more important factor.
Salome was able to keep the balance for most of the game, but eventually time trouble caught with her and, once again, she lost the track.
Although the game was long and tedious, Divya was kind enough to join the live stream and analyse her performance.
Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Abhilash Shinde