FIDE Women’s World Cup: Divya Deshmukh is the first Indian woman champion, becomes Grandmaster

Divya Deshmukh is the World Cup winner. She is also India’s latest Grandmaster, only the fourth Indian woman to get that most coveted of titles in chess.

The 19-year-old from Nagpur recorded the greatest moment of her young career when she beat fellow-Indian Koneru Humpy in the tiebreakers of the World Cup final at Batumi, Georgia, on Monday (July 28, 2025). Both games in the classical format had been drawn, leading to the shootout in speed chess.

After the opening game was drawn in the tiebreaker, Divya won the second with black pieces, punishing her much-higher rated rival for a few inaccurate moves. While Humpy, the reigning World rapid chess champion, is ranked World No. 5, Divya is seeded only 18th.

This is a stunning performance from the teenager who has been establishing herself as one of the world’s best young players in women’s chess. Last year, she had won the World junior championship in Ahmedabad dominating the field, quite expectedly.

Then she played a key role in India’s historic gold in the Chess Olympiad at Budapest. But, India was the top seed there.

At the World Cup, the Indian women exceeded expectations, with four of them making it to the quarterfinals.