Young Divya Deshmukh’s rapid rise to the pinnacle

Will 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh’s achievement of winning the Women’s World Cup herald the beginning of a new era in Indian Women’s chess? Will it inspire more girls to concentrate on chess in a cricket crazy nation after seeing a teenager holding high, her achievements in a cup lifted by an Indian woman for the very first time?

After all, when was the last time that a chess player waltzed away with a triple bonanza in a single event -- winning the World Cup, earning the Grandmaster (GM) title and securing a seat to the 8 player Women’s Candidates tournament. Not to mention a cool USD 50,000 prize money.

Even as the Indian chess had plenty to cheer about with the likes of Dommaraju Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambram and Nihal Sarin, to name a few, women’s chess for a long time rejoiced only on the exploits of the legendary Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika. Divya’s dream performance, starting as the 15th seed will infuse fresh breath into women’s chess.

Batumi in Georgia has always been renowned for its graceful women world champions during the Soviet domination and what better venue for Divya than this to also begin her journey into the elite club. The last month has been nothing short of a dream come true for the petite, smartly-attired Divya, who just a few months back was unsure whether to pursue her dreams on the chequered board or tread along hospital corridors just like her parents’ medical profession.

This quite clearly isn’t a one off performance by Divya for she had firmly made her presence strongly felt at the Pune leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix where she finished 3rd amidst an elite field, a event where she had stepped in as the host entry. Ironically, this was one among the series of qualifying event for the Candidates. Her confidence and quiet playing strength were clearly visible even then.

Divya is the golden girl of Indian chess; a team member of the Olympiad gold-medal winning Indian women team and an individual gold medallist at the Budapest Olympiad last year.

Divya has also struckgold at the Asian Championship, World junior and World Youth. A few days back Divya had also defeated former world junior champion Hou Yifan in the World Team Blitz Championship last month

What sets Divya apart from her peers is the sheer confidence she oozes out and the ability to keep her cool under the most stressful of situations on board. Nagpur-based Divya learnt chess as a five-year-old from Rahul Joshi and then has been coached by Dronacharya awardee GM R B Ramesh, GM Abhijit Kunte and GM Srinath Narayanan during different periods.

Divya’s mother Namrata, who accompanies her to major tournaments, is quick to point out her winning ways, saying:  “she is hardworking, mature and has competed in tough tournaments which has greatly helped. Divya has lived all her life, playing chess and we have been comfortable with her choice and will continue to support her.”

A happy Ramesh also commented: “Big victory at such a young age. A confident player deserving of such a big success. This is the beginning of a long journey for her.”

Kunte, the coach of the Indian women’s Olympiad team at Budapest, has also worked with Divya and is quick to point out, “it is unbelievable  what Divya has achieved at just 19 years, defeating two strong Chinese competitors and also Harika and Humpy en route.

Her performances in recent times also indicate that she can dominate women’s chess and eventually become the first Woman World Champion from India.”

Divya Deshmukh