Divya Deshmukh cries with tears of joy in her mother's arms after defeating Konery Humpy to win Women’s Chess World Cup

Divya Deshmukh defeated Konery Humpy to become the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup champion, and also became India's 88th Grandmaster.

Divya Deshmukh broke down in tears, and couldn’t believe that she defeated Koneru Humpy in the tiebreaks to become the FIDE Women’s World Cup Champion 2025. The 19-year-old also became India’s 88th Grandmaster. She defeated Humpy in an all-Indian final, which went to tie-breaks and Divya won 1.5-0.5. The final began with both classical games on Saturday and Sunday ending in draws.

Divya Deshmukh was visibly emotional.

The first Rapid game ended in a draw and in the next, Divya rose to the occation, bagging a sensational win with the Black pieces to win the match. She has also qualified for the Candidates Tournament by entering the finals, and also became the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup, which also directly go her the Grandmaster title as a result.

In the winning moment, she broke down in tears and was visibly emotional. She was joined by her mother, and during her post-match interview, she kept it short, revealing that she needed to process the moment.

“I need time to process it (win). I think it was fate, me getting the Grandmaster title this way because before this (tournament) I didn't even have one (GM) norm, and now I am the Grandmaster”, she said.

Full video of Divya Deshmukh, after defeating Koneru Humpy:

The win comes at a time when India are cementing their domination in chess, with the likes of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi hogging the spotlight. She joins Humpy, R Vaishali and Dronavalli Harka in the list of women’s Grandmasters in India.

During her career, she has won multiple golds at the World Junior C’ships, Asian Championship and also the World Youth C’ship. She is a native from Nagpur and is one of the leading personalities of chess in India.