Tata Steel Chess: Unstoppable Divya storms into sole lead 

Divya Deshmukh's dream continues: she leads the women's rapid section of the Tata Steel Chess India tournament on 5.5 points, winning 5 of 6 games. Ju Wenjun, reigning World champion, is 1.5 points behind, while Polina Shuvalova and Irina Krush are on 3.5 and 3 points respectively. K. Humpy posted a win in her last game of the day.

Divya Deshmukh’s dream continues at the National Library.

The 17-year-old moved into the sole lead of the women’s rapid section of the Tata Steel Chess India tournament on Friday.

She is on 5.5 points from six rounds. She won all her games on day two, her victims being the American Irina Krush and fellow-Indians B. Savitha Shri and Vantika Agrawal.

In fact, out of the six games she has played so far, she won five and drew the other. And she wasn’t even in the original list of players.

“Yes, it has been like a dream,” said Divya. “It wasn’t easy against Irina, while against Savitha, it had more to do with my preparation. It was unfortunate that Vantika blundered her queen, though I had a better position earlier.”

With three rounds remaining, Divya has a lead of 1.5 points over her nearest rival, the reigning World champion Ju Wenjun.

The top seed from China managed to draw Dronavalli Harika from what, in her own words, was a bad position.