Divya is the queen of Indian chess

Divya Deshmukh, the 19-year-old sensation, defied all odds and upset all calculations to win the FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup which concluded at Batumi, Georgia, on Monday.

In an all-Indian clash, which was decided through tie-break after a deadlock in Classical Chess on Sunday, Divya defeated Koneru Humpy in the second Rapid game to score 2.5-1.5 and become the first ever Indian woman to lift the World Cup.

Divya earned USD 50,000 for her effort, but the bonuses collected en route are priceless; a Grandmaster (GM) title directly without making the requisite norms and most importantly a direct qualification for the eight-player coveted Candidates tournament scheduled next year.

Divya, incidentally, is India’s 88th GM and the fourth Indian woman after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali to earn the GM title.

If it can be recollected, Divya began her campaign as the 15th seed, knocked down higher-rated and ranked opponents and in the final emerged victorious against India’s highest ranked woman player.

In fact, the World Cup is a gruelling event, lasting about 25 days and the players have to be in peak mental and physical shape.

The heartwarming performances by most Indian women in the fray are bound to be a boost to women’s chess in India.

Despite the outcome, it was a magnificent celebration of Indian chess with both Divya and Humpy playing way above their rating strength.

The first tie-break Rapid game ended in a draw where Divya-wielded white had a slight edge.

Humpy sacrificed her queen for a rook and bishop and later built a fortress to force a draw. Both the games played on Monday were well fought with both players declining the easy draw outcomes.

The second game, in the Catalan Opening, always looked difficult for Humpy after she overthought in the initial moves.

At one point she just had eight minutes as against Divya’s 16 minutes on the clock. Play focussed for most part on the queen-side with both players moving and positioning their major forces there.

Humpy, however, appeared to have blocked play on the queen-side and a draw appeared the logical outcome.

Much of the tension was relieved after the exchange of most pieces

At this critical juncture, Humpy over-stretched with a central pawn advance which put Divya firmly in the driver’s seat.

Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand commentating on the game quipped: “It was quite dramatic and it was a total collapse by Humpy and a self inflicted one”.

Thereafter Divya finally found the path to victory though not the easiest one.

Divya burst into tears immediately after the victory and rushed to hug her mother. “I was sure that at some point I just messed up an easy win. I need to still process the fact that I earned a GM title directly, having come to this event without a single GM norm.”

Divya exhibited admirable playing strength throughout the tournament but it was her cool and composed outlook that supported her winning momentum.

The 38-year-old Humpy also played brilliantly throughout the event but fumbled at the finishing stages.

Interestingly, in a poll conducted by FIDE to pick favourites for the title before Monday’s tie-breaks, 59 percent voted for Divya and 41 percent for Humpy.

Highlights - In a nutshell
Name: Divya Deshmukh
Born: Dec 9, 2005 in Nagpur
Titles: Grandmaster (July 2025), International Master (2023), Woman GM (2021)
FIDE rating: 2463 (Jul 2025)
Peak rating: 2501 (Oct 2024)
Gold: Triple golds at Olympiad 2024; World U-20 meet (2024), Asian Chess Championship (2023), Indian Chess Championship (2021), team Olympiad gold (2020)