Photo: ChessBase India
India’s Divya Deshmukh posted two wins on Saturday to top the standings with seven points after the ninth round in the Velammal-AICF Women International Grand Master round-robin chess tournament.
The Nagpur girl also achieved her maiden International Master norm and WGM norm. Chennai’s P Michelle Catherina (6.5) secured a nine-game WGM norm.
Michelle Catherina and Osmak Iuilja (Ukraine) share the second spot at 6.5 points.
Deshmukh posted wins over WGM Olga Babiy of Ukraine and Mongolia’s Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh, while Catherina achieved her WGM norm with a draw against compatriot Aakanksha Hagawane.
[iframe border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” width=”560″ height=”465″ src=”//www.chess.com/emboard?id=5124116″][/iframe]
Deshmukh, who needed a draw to achieve her norm, beat Olga Babiy in a hard fought game that lasted four hours and twenty minutes after 92 moves.
| Round 7 on 2019/02/01 at 10.00 am | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 4 | IND | 2259 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | ½ – ½ | IM | Osmak Iulija | UKR | 2394 | 12 |
| 2 | 5 | IND | 1925 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | 0 – 1 | WGM | Babiy Olga | UKR | 2275 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 | IND | 2175 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | 1 – 0 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | MGL | 2314 | 2 |
| 4 | 7 | IND | 2168 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | ½ – ½ | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | KAZ | 2336 | 1 |
| 5 | 8 | IND | 2198 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | ½ – ½ | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | COL | 2107 | 11 |
| 6 | 9 | MGL | 2428 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 1 – 0 | WIM | Varshini V | IND | 2171 | 10 |
| Round 8 on 2019/02/02 at 09.30 am | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 12 | UKR | 2394 | IM | Osmak Iulija | 1 – 0 | WIM | Varshini V | IND | 2171 | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | COL | 2107 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | 0 – 1 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | MGL | 2428 | 9 |
| 3 | 1 | KAZ | 2336 | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | 0 – 1 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | IND | 2198 | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | MGL | 2314 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | 0 – 1 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | IND | 2168 | 7 |
| 5 | 3 | UKR | 2275 | WGM | Babiy Olga | 0 – 1 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | IND | 2175 | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | IND | 2259 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | ½ – ½ | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | IND | 1925 | 5 |
| Round 9 on 2019/02/02 at 04.00 pm | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 5 | IND | 1925 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | 0 – 1 | IM | Osmak Iulija | UKR | 2394 | 12 |
| 2 | 6 | IND | 2175 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | ½ – ½ | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | IND | 2259 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 | IND | 2168 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 1 – 0 | WGM | Babiy Olga | UKR | 2275 | 3 |
| 4 | 8 | IND | 2198 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | ½ – ½ | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | MGL | 2314 | 2 |
| 5 | 9 | MGL | 2428 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | ½ – ½ | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | KAZ | 2336 | 1 |
| 6 | 10 | IND | 2171 | WIM | Varshini V | ½ – ½ | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | COL | 2107 | 11 |

Chess Problem Corner
20th Asian Schools Chess Championships – 2026 in Tula region ,Russia from 1st to 11th October 2026.
SNA Seminar & Exam in Guwahati , Assam on 02 & 03 September 2026
SNA Seminar & Exam at The Heritage School, Tarapith, West Bengal on 02 & 03 October 2026
Final report :SNA Seminar & Exam held in Jammu on 17 & 18 July 2026