# Chess in the Last 24 Hours: Two Stars Race Into the Quarterfinals

> Two stars shone at the Women's Speed Chess Championship on Friday. India's Divya Deshmukh crushed Rose Atwell 14-1, losing just one game in fifteen. Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Afruza Khamdamova 10.5-3.5. Both reach the quarterfinals, where they now face each other. A simple, friendly look at the last 24 hours in chess.

_By PrimeChess Team, Chess for Everyone · Jul 11, 2026_

# Chess in the Last 24 Hours: Two Stars Race Into the Quarterfinals

Think about this. You sit down to play chess. Not one game, but fifteen. Each game is fast. The clock keeps ticking the whole time. Now imagine you win almost every single one.

That is what happened on Friday at the **Women's Speed Chess Championship**. Two players had a huge day, and both are now in the quarterfinals — the last eight.

## A quick word on the event

The Women's Speed Chess Championship is an online event on Chess.com. It runs from July 6 to July 31. Sixteen of the best women players in the world are taking part. They are all chasing a prize fund of **$75,000**.

The chess here is fast. Players use three speeds, one after the other: 5+1, then 3+1, then 1+1. That last one gives each player only one minute — very fast! It is one big knockout. Win, and you stay. Lose, and you go home.

## Divya's near-perfect day

Divya Deshmukh, from India, played like a dream. She beat Rose Atwell by a score of **14-1**. Across all fifteen games, she lost only one. People are calling it one of the best runs the event has ever seen.

How did she stay so calm? Music. Divya listened to songs the whole time, nodding her head and singing along. Most of it was Indian music, she said. Her tip for good blitz songs? The band Imagine Dragons — she named "Sharks" and "Whatever It Takes".

## Bibisara keeps her cool

Bibisara Assaubayeva, from Kazakhstan, won too. She beat Afruza Khamdamova by **10.5-3.5**. She dropped just one game in the whole match.

Before the match, she was a little nervous. She had not played much online lately. But after a shaky start, she found her rhythm. "I felt back in my shape," she said. She is a three-time world blitz champion, so fast chess is really her home.

She was relaxed about the risk, too. If she lost, she joked, she would get some free time. If she won, she would keep playing. She won.

## What comes next

Here is the fun part. Divya and Bibisara will now play **each other** in the quarterfinal. Two winners, one spot. They have met many times before. Bibisara only smiled about it. To her, it is "just another game, one of the thousands!"

More matches come on Monday, July 13:

| Match | Players |
| --- | --- |
| Quarterfinal (Monday) | Hou Yifan vs. Dinara Wagner |
| Quarterfinal (Monday) | Polina Shuvalova vs. Anastasia Avramidou |

Hou Yifan is the world's number-one woman player, so that is a game to watch.

## A closing thought

Speed chess looks wild and quick. But under the speed is years of quiet, hard work. Divya and Bibisara did not become this good by luck. They studied, they lost, they tried again. On Friday, all of that work showed on the board.

And the best part? Their next game is against each other. One of them moves on. The other goes home. That is sport. And that is why we keep watching.