• Source:JND
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FIDE Women's World Cup: All four women, Grandmasters Koneru Humpy, D Harika and R Vaishali and International Master Divya Deshmukh, sealed their place in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup as India became the first-ever nation to have four players in the tournament's last-eight stage.

Humpy exuded confidence as she gave a glimpse of her vintage self, outmanoeuvring Alexandra Kosteniuk the Russian-born grandmaster now representing Switzerland.

In the first round, Humpy defeated Kosteniuk with a 1.5-0.5 margin, displaying utter dominance over other competitors.

Another Indian player, Divya, continued her march with a punch above her weight, defeating second seed China's Jiner Zhu 1.5-0.5. She won the first game with black and then drew the second with white.

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With the two Indians already sealing a place in the quarters, Harika faced a stern test against Kateryna Lagno after she lost the opening game with black. However, she was quick to rebound with authority in the second, sealing a crucial win with white to level the match, forcing a second tiebreaker.

The Indian drew the first game with black and capitalised on her opportunities with white to advance to the quarterfinals.

On the other hand, Vishali outperformed Kazakhstan's Meruert Kamalidenova.

With all four Indian women making their place in the quarterfinals, the battle for the coveted prize has narrowed down to a fierce contest between India and China.

The top three ranked players of the tournament will reserve a place in the Women's Candidates, a stage for a shot at contesting for the Women's World Championship title.

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It will also be an all Indian quarterfinal as Divya will take on Harika, meanwhile, Humpy and Vaishali will next face China's Song Yuxin and Tan Zhongyi, respectively.

Meanwhile, in the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour, India have both positive and negative as Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi outwitted Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov to reach the semifinals but R Praggnanandhaa's title hopes were shattered by a harsh defeat to Fabiano Caruana of the USA, ending his campaign.

Arjun conquered Abdusattorov 1.5-0.5 while Praggnanandhaa lost an extreme competition 3-4 against Caruana.