Divya Deshmukh Crowned FIDE Women’s World Cup Champion
Divya Deshmukh Crowned FIDE Women’s World Cup Champion
Batumi | July 28, 2025 — In a landmark moment for Indian chess, 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh clinched the FIDE Women’s World Cup title by defeating Koneru Humpy in a tense tiebreak final, becoming only the fourth Indian woman to earn the prestigious Grandmaster (GM) title.
Divya’s journey to this triumph is nothing short of extraordinary. Just 13 months ago, she secured the World Junior Championship title in the girls’ category. Today, she has claimed the second-most prestigious crown in women’s chess and achieved a historic personal milestone — the GM title — despite not having any GM norms before this tournament began.
The final in Batumi was a battle of generations — between Divya, the teenage sensation from Nagpur, and Humpy, India’s first-ever woman Grandmaster and a stalwart of Indian chess. With both classical games ending in draws, the match moved into rapid tiebreaks. After a draw in the first, Humpy blundered in the second, handing Divya a dramatic win.
Speaking after her victory, an emotional Divya said, “I didn’t even have one norm before this tournament. I thought maybe I’d get one here, but I never imagined I’d leave as a Grandmaster. I think it was fate.”
Her words reflected humility and hunger: “This means a lot, but there’s still a lot more to achieve. I’m hoping this is just the beginning.”
Viswanathan Anand, five-time world champion and commentator during the match, summed it up: “Dramatic! Humpy just collapsed. It was totally self-inflicted. A case where nerves took over.”
Emotions overflowed after the match as Divya embraced her mother in the playing hall — a moment captured and celebrated by fans across the chess world.
Despite being an underdog in the rapid format — where Humpy is a former World Rapid Champion and ranks among the world’s top ten — Divya held her nerve. Ranked 18th globally, she outplayed the fifth-ranked veteran with maturity far beyond her age.
Divya’s rise has been meteoric. Apart from this win, she was instrumental in India’s gold-winning campaign at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where she also bagged an individual gold medal.
Now, as India’s fourth woman Grandmaster, Divya Deshmukh stands as a symbol of the new era in Indian chess — young, fearless, and rewriting history.
