Who is Divya Deshmukh? Chess Grandmaster and First Indian Woman to Win FIDE World Cup 2025
Divya Deshmukh, 19, became the first Indian to win the FIDE Women's World Cup in 2025 after defeating Koneru Humpy, who was ranked higher, in tiebreaks. With the victory, she also became the 88th person from India to earn the title of Grandmaster.
Divya defeated Humpy 1.5-0.5 in the all-Indian Finals, which went to tiebreaks following a grueling match on Sunday, July 27. After the first Rapid game finished in a draw, Divya won the match with a spectacular triumph using the Black pieces. In addition, she is the youngest FIDE Women's World Cup champion.
"Given that I had no norms prior to this, I believe it was fate that I received the grandmaster title in this manner. I was wondering where I could obtain a norm prior to this competition, and now I'm a grandmaster. Later, Divya said.
Everything you need to know about Divya Deshmukh
Humpy and Divya are both eligible candidates. At the age of 19, Divya was already an International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She was born into a Marathi family and is from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Jitendra and Namratha Deshmukh, her parents, are also physicians. She had her early schooling at Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir and started playing chess early , rising up the Indian chess levels swiftly.
Divya was crowned India's 21st Woman Grandmaster in 2021 and went on to win the 2022 Women's Indian Chess Championship. She won a bronze medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad and assisted India in winning the gold medal at the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad.
In 2023, Divya won the women's rapid division of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament and the Asian Women's Chess Championship, defeating top players like Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli. She became only the fourth Indian to win this title after winning the FIDE World U20 Girls Championship in June and the Sharjah Challengers in May 2024. She completed with an impressive score of 10/11 and won the last round with ease.
She upset world No. 1 Hou Yifan in an exciting 74-move match in the 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in London.
After defeating Koneru Humpy in the tiebreaks to win the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, Divya Deshmukh broke down in tears and expressed her shock. Additionally, the 19-year-old became the 88th Grandmaster of India. In an all-Indian final that went to tie-breaks, she defeated Humpy 1.5-0.5. Both Saturday's and Sunday's classical matches ended in draws, setting up the final.
She was clearly emotional and started crying during the victorious moment. Her mother accompanied her, and she was brief in her post-match interview, stating that she needed time to absorb the situation.
