Divya and Vantika shine on day one, take early lead in Tata Steel Chess

Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal lead the Tata Steel Chess India tournament after Day 1, having scored 2.5 points each. Divya shocked 3rd seed Dronavalli Harika and drew with reigning World champion Ju Wenjun, while Vantika beat 2nd seed Koneru Humpy and defending champion Anna Ushenina. Divya hopes to build on her great start, while Vantika is looking to finish strong.

Divya Deshmukh is here only because R. Vaishali isn’t.

Vaishali, the defending champion in the women’s blitz event, had to pull out virtually at the last minute because of ill-health, and Divya came in as her replacement for the Tata Steel Chess India tournament.

She is making the opportunity count. After shocking third seed Dronavalli Harika, and drawing with the reigning World champion Ju Wenjun of China, she defeated Georgia’s Nino Batsiashvili to move into the joint lead on the opening day.

Divya is sharing the lead with Vantika Agrawal, another young Indian who had an excellent day at the National Library. They have 2.5 points after the third round of the rapid section.

Ju has two points, while Batsiashvili, Russian Polina Shuvalova and Irina Krush of the United States are on 1.5. Six rounds remain.

Like Divya, Vantika too scored a couple of memorable wins over formidable rivals — second seed Koneru Humpy, and the defending champion in this event, Anna Ushenina of Ukraine.

Divya, who was planning to spend a few days at home after playing tournaments continuously when she got the invitation to play here, is hoping to build on the great start. “I hope I don’t have a disappointing finish,” said the 17-year-old from Nagpur.