Pune GP R3: Humpy halts Divya's winning streak

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/04/2025

GM Koneru Humpy denied IM Divya Deshmukh any opportunity to score a hat-trick. She mentioned in the post-game interview that she played something, got a new position and outplayed Divya. GM Harika Dronavalli scored her first win of the event against IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL). IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) launched a devastating attack on the queenside to beat IM Alina Kashlinskaya (POL). GM R Vaishali drew with IM Polina Shuvalova. GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) shared the point with IM Melia Salome (GEO) to emerge an early sole leader 2.5/3. Humpy, Divya, Polina and Batkhuyag are at 2/3 each. Harika moved to 1.5/3. Round 4 starts today from 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Harika scores her first win, Jiner gains an early sole lead

GM Koneru Humpy halted IM Divya Deshmukh's winning streak

Humpy - Divya: 1-0

GM Koneru Humpy (2528) faced IM Divya Deshmukh (2460) in a Classical rated game only once. It ended in a draw last year. However, this time Humpy was determined to score her first win of the event. She opted for the English opening and in the middlegame, Divya made a positional mistake.

Position after 18...e5

18...e5 blocked the g7-bishop's diagonal and also forced White to go 19.Nxg6 which White would have probably wanted anyway. 19...fxg6 20.Qb1 Ne7 21.Rc1 Qb6 22.b4 cxb4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.axb4 Nd5 25.Ng5+ hxg5 26.Bxd5 White went on to win the game with precise play.

Interview with GM Koneru Humpy | Video: FIDE

It will always be a great challenge to overcome GM Koneru Humpy

Nurgyul - Harika: 0-1

GM Harika Dronavalli (2488) played only one Classical rated game against IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL, 2402). She won that. Harika was outplaying Nurgyul until she allowed the Bulgarian to get back in the endgame. She made one more mistake in the end which allowed Harika to regain her advantage and win the game.

Interview with Harika Dronavalli | Video: FIDE

GM Harika Dronavalli scored her first win, IM Nurgyul Salimova lost her second game of the event

GM R Vaishali - IM Polina Shuvalova: 0.5-0.5

GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) - IM Melia Salome (GEO): 0.5-0.5

Interview with IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) | Video: FIDE

IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL) scored a fantastic win against IM Alina Kashlinskaya (POL)

For more Round 3 photos, please click here.

Replay live stream

Replay Round 3 live commentary by IM Rakesh Kulkarni and CM Sahil Tickoo | Video: FIDE

Prizes

Total prize fund is €80000. The top three prizes are €18000, €13000 and €10500 each. The top three GP points are - 130, 105 and 85. For more details, check out the regulations below.

Schedule

The tournament will take place from 14th to 23rd April 2025. Sole rest day is on Saturday 19th April.

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	2	2525	GM	Zhu, Jiner	½ - ½	IM	Melia, Salome	2293	10	PGN
2	3	2496	IM	Kashlinskaya, Alina	0 - 1	IM	Batkhuyag, Munguntuul	2361	1	PGN
3	4	2402	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	0 - 1	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2488	9	PGN
4	5	2484	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	½ - ½	IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2500	8	PGN
5	6	2528	GM	Koneru, Humpy	1 - 0	IM	Divya, Deshmukh	2460	7	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Zhu, Jiner	CHN	2525	2,5	1	4,00	2
2	6	GM	Koneru, Humpy	IND	2528	2	2	3,00	1
3	7	IM	Divya, Deshmukh	IND	2460	2	2	1,50	2
4	8	IM	Shuvalova, Polina	FID	2500	2	2	1,25	1
5	1	IM	Batkhuyag, Munguntuul	MGL	2361	2	1	1,50	2
6	9	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2488	1,5	2	0,75	1
7	10	IM	Melia, Salome	GEO	2293	1	2	2,25	0
8	5	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2484	1	1	2,00	0
9	4	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	BUL	2402	0,5	1	1,00	0
10	3	IM	Kashlinskaya, Alina	POL	2496	0,5	1	0,75	0

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	2293	IM	Melia, Salome		IM	Divya, Deshmukh	2460	7
2	8	2500	IM	Shuvalova, Polina		GM	Koneru, Humpy	2528	6
3	9	2488	GM	Dronavalli, Harika		GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	2484	5
4	1	2361	IM	Batkhuyag, Munguntuul		IM	Salimova, Nurgyul	2402	4
5	2	2525	GM	Zhu, Jiner		IM	Kashlinskaya, Alina	2496	3