Divya Deshmukh finally establishes herself among chess' elite with historic run to Women's World Cup final

“I need some sleep. These days have been so anxious. I just need some sleep and some food.” — It’s only natural for International Master Divya Deshmukh to react the way she did after defeating Chinese Grandmaster Tan Zhongyi in the semi-finals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup. It has, after all, been a dream week for the 19-year-old Indian in Batumi, Georgia, where she has already knocked out two players ranked inside the top-10.

Indian IMs Divya and Vantika Agrawal, both part of the gold-winning Indian women’s team at last year’s Chess Olympiad, had pulled off two of the biggest upsets at the World Cup when they defeated Grandmasters Zhu Jiner and Anna Ushenina, respectively.

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Vantika’s victory over the former world champion had come in the second round, while Divya defeated the Chinese second seed to become one of four Indians advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

And while Vantika would bow out shortly after her victory over Ushenina with a third-round loss against Russia’s Kateryna Lagno, Divya was far from done after reaching the last-8.

Taking the world of chess by storm

The Nagpur resident has been a rising star in the chess circuit for quite some time now, especially after being part of the Indian contingent that won bronze in the ‘Open’ as well as ‘Women’ categories in the 2022 Olympiad – also a historic moment in Indian chess.

Divya would continue to rise through the ranks the following year, triumphing in the Asian Chess Championship as well as at the Tata Steel Chess India later that year, where she triumphed in the women’s rapid section ahead of established names such as Chinese GM Ju Wenjun as well as Indian GMs Harika Dronavalli and Koneru Humpy.

Her individual as well as team gold at last year’s Chess Olympiad, along with her win over World No. 1 Hou Yifan at the World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championships last month, further established Divya as someone to watch out for among the current generation of chess players.

Goosebumps!
🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh defeated 🇨🇳 Women’s World No. 1 Hou Yifan — and her face says it all. ♟️🔥#FIDERapidBlitzTeams pic.twitter.com/FcXtb5XuIp

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) June 21, 2025

With her trailblazing run in the World Cup a month after her victory over Hou, storming into the final of an event where only one Indian had made it to the quarter-finals in the previous editions in 2021 and 2023, Divya has finally announced herself before the chess world.

The prefix ‘rising’ is no longer necessary, she rightfully belongs among the crème de la crème of women’s chess.

Divya showcases her fighting spirit in Batumi

It’s not just the fact that she’s ended up on the winning side every single time in the ongoing tournament that matters, but how she achieved it that sets her apart.

Divya had, after all, battled on against Zhu in the first tie-break game despite committing a 34th-move knight blunder while playing as black after the world No. 6 had levelled the fourth-round showdown with a flawless 57-move victory in the second Classical game.

She would end up grinding the game past the 90-move mark before forcing her opponent to resign. Later on the same day, she would seal her triumph with a draw via repetition.

Her skill would then trump the experience of compatriot Harika and China’s Tan – both nearly a decade-and-a-half older than her – in the next two rounds. The quarter-final against the former went into the tie-breaks after both Classical games ended in a draw before Divya bagged both tie-breaks, outclassing her opponent while playing with white in the first game.

The semi-final against Tan, meanwhile, turned out to be the shortest of her hat-trick of wins against GMs in her last three outings at the World Cup. Game 2, which developed from an Alapin Sicilian Defense, turned out to be quite the slow-burner, much like her first tie-break game against Zhu, this one going past 100 moves.

And while both players committed blunders in a game strewn with errors, and had equal opportunities at victory, it was Divya who proved her mettle in a crunch situation as she won the battle of nerves despite having a fraction of her opponent’s time left on the clock towards the end.

“I think I could have played much better. I was winning at a certain point, and it had gotten complicated and I think I messed up in the middlegame, but I should have had a much smoother win, and she put up such a good fight… I think I got lucky in the end,” Divya was quoted by Chess.com as saying after her victory.

Another watershed moment for Indian chess

It’s been a dream tournament so far for Indian chess, and it can get even sweeter if reigning women’s rapid world champion Humpy triumphs over world No. 3 Lei Tingjie in the tie-breaks on Thursday after the two played out back-to-back Classical draws.

Humpy’s victory will not only lead to a historic all-Indian World Cup final, but it will also ensure that at least two Indians are in the fray as far as challenging Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Championship is concerned.

But regardless of how the tournament pans out from hereon, one cannot deny the fact that the World Cup has been nothing short of historic for Indian chess, which has been scaling new dizzying heights since R Praggnanandhaa reached the FIDE World Cup final in 2023.

And for the first time in her career, Divya has been the face of that revolutionary moment – before she has even secured her Grandmaster title. And if she has achieved so much before turning 20, one can only wonder what’s in store ahead.