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Divya Deshmukh, 19, crowned FIDE Women’s World Cup winner
Divya Deshmukh, 19, wins the FIDE Women’s World Cup, defeating Koneru Humpy, and becomes India's fourth Grandmaster in chess.
New Delhi: Divya Deshmukh claimed the FIDE Women’s World Cup title on Monday by upstaging the seasoned Koneru Humpy in the second Rapid game of the tie-break at Batumi, Georgia.
The 19-year-old capped her remarkable run to the final of the tournament, winning with black pieces in the second rapid game after the first was drawn. The final had entered the tie-breaks territory after both their classical games were drawn.
On Monday, after the first Rapid tie-break game was drawn, Divya cashed in on a late error by her 38-year-old compatriot -- Humpy is the reigning world Rapid champion – to be crowned victor. The mistake came in her 54th move and Humpy’s young opponent did not let go of the opportunity.
Divya, by virtue of the victory, becomes the fourth Indian player to achieve the Grandmaster title. Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R Vaishali are the others. Both Divya and Humpy by reaching the final had already qualified for the Candidates tournament, whose winner will challenge the reigning women’s world champion, China’s Ju Wenjun.
The Nagpur player’s brilliant achievement adds to the accolades India’s young chess brigade has been collecting, coming as it does after D Gukesh at 18 won the FIDE world championship in Singapore late last year.
Shaking hands with Humpy, who is twice her age and has been India’s biggest name in women’s chess for a couple of decades, Divya turned emotional, shedding tears of joy as her family joined in the celebration. Divya had her hand on her mouth as she made her final move, and as Humpy shook hands in resignation and left, covered her face overwhelmed by the moment. She walked out to be embraced by her mother.
“I need time to process it,” said an emotional Divya, interviewed minutes after the win. “It is fate me getting by GM title this way as I had only one norm.”
“It means a lot, but there is a lot more to achieve. It is just the start.”
In 2023, she won the Asian continental women’s title and despite coming in as a last-minute replacement and being the lowest seed, took the top position in the Tata Steel women’s rapid section ahead of women’s reigning world champion Ju Wenjun. In 2024, she won the world u-20 girls chess championship, staying unbeaten and taking sole first place with 10/11 points.
