Deshmukh Leads Zhu @ Women’s Chess World Cup

The first games of the fourth round at the 2025 Women’s Chess World Cup included four decisive results, most notably IM Divya Deshmukh winning against 2nd-seed Zhu Jiner.

Deshmukh, as White, made one error, choosing 29. Bd5? instead of attacking the kingside with 29. Qf3 or 29. h5. She would likely have been aiming for a good knight vs. bad bishop endgame, though the stronger argument is for acting on the kingside while Black’s light square bishop is out of play on a8. Zhu did not find 29. …Qc8! to counterattack White’s knight, and instead 29. …Bxd5? 30. Nf6+ Kg7 31. Nxd5 put White back on course to win the game.

Deshmukh is joined by Lei Tingjie, Tan Zhongyi, and IM Song Yuzin as match leaders. All four wins were by the White player, and were very one-sided from start to finish.

Similarly, the four draws were mostly stable, with no dramatic swings. Perhaps the players were easing back into the grind after the rest day. The first quarterfinalists will be decided after the second games of the round on Thursday, which starts at 11:15 a.m. UTC. Follow along on Lichess.

Photo by Anna Shtourman / FIDE