The Kazakh grandmaster will face the reigning FIDE World Cup winner, Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh, for a place in the semi-finals.
In the round of 16, Assaubayeva convincingly defeated Uzbekistan’s Afruza Khamdamova, 10.5-3.5, while Deshmukh crushed American Rose Atwell, 14-1, without losing a single game.
Divya Deshmukh, 20, is considered one of the strongest young chess players in the world. In 2025, she won the FIDE World Cup, became an international grandmaster and earned a place in the Candidates Tournament. In 2024, he also won two gold medals at the FIDE Chess Olympiad, both in the team and individual classifications.
For Bibisara Assaubayeva, the next match is another meeting with a fierce opponent. In April, in the Candidates Tournament, she tied with Diviya Deshmukh in the final round and eventually finished second. However, in June, Bibisara gained revenge by defeating the Indian player at the Norway Chess Women 2026 tournament, clinching the championship title ahead of schedule.
Earlier, Qazinform news agency reported that Bibisara Assaubayeva had risen to fifth place in the updated FIDE world rankings.
