Divya Deshmukh, only here because R Vaisahali is not, starred on Day 2 of the Tata Steel Chess India rapid winning all three rounds on Friday. She is the sole leader on 5.5 points with reigning world champion GM Ju Wenjun of China next on 4 and Russian IM Polina Shuvalova on 3.5 points.
Playing white, IM Deshmukh began with a victory over American GM Irina Krush making the most of her tightly coordinated pieces. She beat Savitha Shri next and ended the day with the full point against overnight joint-leader IM Vantika Agarwal. Deshmukh was in control through her final round and won when Agarwal made a huge queen blunder.
Agarwal lost all her games, having gone down to Wenjun and Krush earlier. Also losing all games was GM Nino Batsiashvili. The Georgian was defeated by Shri, defending rapid champion Anna Ushenina and finally Humpy who made good use of her advanced pawns.
Humpy lost to Shuvalova in the fourth round and drew with GM Harika Dronavalli. Harika came close to beating Wenjun but could not exploit the advantage, letting the Chinese escape with a draw.
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