Divya Deshmukh scripted history on Monday, defeating Koneru Humpy at the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup final, and also became India’s 88th Grandmaster. She defeated Humpy in an all-Indian final which also went to tie-breaks and Divya ended up winning 1.5-0.5.
After returning to India, Divya spoke about her first coach, Rahul Joshi, and dedicated her GM title to him. Joshi, a famous chess trainer from Maharashtra, died in 2020 at the age of 40.
Also Read: Divya Deshmukh stunned, says ‘need time to process’ Chess World Cup title: ‘It was fate, becoming Grandmaster this way’
‘He always wanted me to be a GM’: Divya Deshmukh
“He always wanted me to be a GM. I dedicate my GM title to him,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with FIDE, she revealed her team members behind her success at the FIDE Women’s World Cup.
“For this tournament, I was helped by Csaba Balogh. He’s from Hungary. He’s a really strong Grandmaster. He spent endless nights. I think he’s had a harder time with this tournament than I have. He’s got no sleep. He was the reason I had such good preparation,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“For this tournament, I was helped by Csaba Balogh. He’s from Hungary. He’s a really strong Grandmaster. He spent endless nights. I think he’s had a harder time with this tournament than I have. He’s got no sleep. He was the reason I had such good preparation,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“Also, I was helped by Abhimanyu Puranik for this tournament. He was always there to cheer me on,” she further added.
Balogh got the GM title in 2004, and was a member of the Hungarian team, which won silver at the 2014 Chess Olympiad. Meanwhile, Puranik is a 25-year-old GM, based in Mumbai. He finished second at the World Junior Chess C’ship in 2018.
Meanwhile, Divya has also won multiple gold medals at the World Junior C’ships, Asian Championship and also the World Youth C’ship. Her victory has continued the domination of Indians in chess in recent times.
Speaking after her win, Divya said, “I need time to process it. I think it was fate, me getting the Grandmaster title this way. Because before this, I didn’t even have one norm, and before this tournament, I was thinking ‘Oh, where can I get my norm’ and now I’m a Grandmaster.”