Divya Deshmukh becomes Woman Grand Master at age of 15 after competing final norm

Chennai: Child prodigy Divya Deshmukh has become India’s latest Woman Grand Master (WGM) at the First Saturday Grandmaster chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary. “Completed my 2nd IM norm and my last WGM norm. Hoping to play some more good chess in the upcoming tournaments,” the 15-year-old Maharashtra player tweeted on Wednesday. She scored five points from nine rounds and came up with a rating performance of 2452 to secure her third and final WGM norm. She also secured her second IM-norm and is now a norm away from becoming an International Master. Apart from three wins, she played out four draws while losing two games in the tournament. The All-India Chess Federation (AICF) congratulated Deshmukh on becoming a WGM, the country’s 21st. “Congratulations @DivyaDeshmukh05, latest Woman Grandmaster of India. Nagpur teenager Divya Deshmukh becomes the latest Woman Grandmaster of the country after achieving her second International Master Norm(Final WGM Norm) at First Saturday Grandmaster October 2021, Budapest Hungary,” AICF tweeted. The Nagpur teenager had earned the first two WGM norms at the Velammal International women’s round-robin tournament and the Aeroflot Open 2019. The event in Budapest was Divya Deshmukh’s first over the board event since the COVID-19 pandemic last year.