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 |
Congratulation:-Aronyak Ghosh from West Bengal becomes India’s 95th Chess Grandmaster 
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Ahmedabad , Gujarat from 18th to 21st May, 2026 
Historic Triumph: R Vaishali wins Candidates, earns World Championship match against Ju Wenjun, 
Final Report:35th National Under-17 Open & Girls Chess Championships – 2026 
SNA Seminar & Exam in ANDHRA UNIVERSITY, VISAKHAPTNAM on 02 & 03 May 2026 (2 Batches) 
Certificate :National Team in Raipur ,Chhattisgarh from 16-22 March 2026