 "Explained: How Divya Deshmukh became Grandmaster without fulfilling all FIDE norms and rating requirements")
19-year-old Divya Deshmukh created history on Monday, 28 July by winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, becoming the first-ever Indian to win the title. She defeated her senior and one of India’s most respected players, Grandmaster Koneru Humpy, in a tense final that went down to the wire.
With this win, Divya also earned the prestigious Grandmaster (GM) title, something very few players in the world have achieved. She became the 88th Grandmaster from India and only the fourth Indian woman to reach that level after Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, and R Vaishali.
How did Divya become a GM without fulfilling the usual rules?
Becoming a Grandmaster in chess is not easy. A player must earn three GM norms in official FIDE-rated tournaments and cross a rating of 2500 at some point in their career. Divya entered the World Cup without a GM norm and her rating was below 2500. So, she didn’t meet these requirements.
However, there’s a special rule in chess that made her achievement possible. It is known as the Direct Title rule.
What is a Direct Title?
The International Chess Federation, also known as FIDE, allows certain achievements to automatically grant a player the GM title. These are called Direct Titles. Winning tournaments like the Chess World Cup, Continental Championships and the Women’s World Cup can directly qualify a player for the GM title without needing to complete norms or rating.
So, by winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup, Divya earned an automatic Grandmaster title. That’s why she doesn’t need to wait for two more norms or to cross 2500 anymore.
How the final went down
The final against Humpy was anything but easy. Both classical games ended in a draw. In the first rapid tiebreak game, Divya had the white pieces but couldn’t make the most of it, and it ended in a draw after 81 moves.
But in the second rapid game, Humpy made a few blunders under time pressure after 75 moves, and Divya was able to seal the win and with it the grand prize. With it came the cherry on top - the GM title.
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