NAGPUR: Ten days after becoming India's 22nd and Vidarbha's first Women Grandmaster (WGM), Divya Deshmukh successfully switched herself from the over-the-board tournaments to online championship.
The 16-year-old Divya brought home yet another international medal on Tuesday when Maharashtra's youngest WGM sealed silver in the Asian Youth Chess Championship played online. In the U-16 girls' group, Divya finished on top of the table but had to settle for silver based on the Buchholz Tie-Break system.
In the nine-round rapid event, Divya won seven games, drew a board, and suffered a defeat in the final round to finish at par with eventual winner and top seeded Balabayeva Xeniya of Kazakhstan collecting 7.5 points each.
The third seeded Divya had a dream start to the tournament where she won all the five games she played. Her winning run was halted by Xeniya in the sixth round where both the seeded masters signed a peace treaty. Despite the draw, Divya continued her attacking play and posted back-to-back victories. In a bid to gain full points in the final round, Divya played aggressively but made a silly error to suffer her only defeat against China's Sun Jihan and settle for silver.
On her way, city's only WGM defeated Mongolia's Urangoo Kherlenzorig, Fang Kun from Singapore, Vietnam's Bui Ngoc Phuong Nghi and Ngo Xuan Quynh, Abbaspoorrad Nikoo of Iran and compatriots Bhagyashree Patil and Saniya Rafique Tadavi.
