Koneru Humpy Takes Lead in FIDE Women's Grand Prix

Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy surged ahead in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix, defeating Zhu Jiner to gain a half-point lead. Divya Deshmukh also won, keeping the competition tight with only two rounds left. R Vaishali and Dronavalli Harika are now unlikely contenders after achieving draws.

Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy clinched a pivotal victory over China's Zhu Jiner, propelling her to the top of the leaderboard with 5.5 points after the seventh round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix on Monday.

In an impressive show for India, Divya Deshmukh overpowered Munguntuul Batkhuyag, trailing just half a point behind Humpy. The competition is now fever-pitched with only two rounds left in the 10-player round-robin event.

R Vaishali and Dronavalli Harika, however, settled for draws, effectively removing them from title contention. Humpy surprised the overnight leader Zhu by deviating from her usual English Opening, playing into a Queen's Indian Defense and eventually capitalizing on Zhu's blitz-paced blunder to secure her win.

(With inputs from agencies.)