Introduction :-
Person: Divya Deshmukh
Discussion: Won the Women’s Chess World Cup
Why: First Indian woman player to win the World Cup.
She is called the Captain Cool of Chess. Unlike contemporary chess players, she remains in the headlines for her attire and fashion. She has been vocal against gender discrimination in sports. Divya Deshmukh, who became the first Indian to win the Women’s World Cup, is ready to touch new heights in the game of sixty-four squares.
This is about a decade and a half ago. A doctor couple living in Shankar Nagar of Nagpur, the city of oranges, took their younger daughter to the place where the elder daughter was already training in basketball and badminton. She wanted to play badminton, but with age her height became too short for the net of this game, but when the doctor mother of this four-year-old daughter saw children playing chess nearby, she happily took her there. Then what happened, that girl’s mind got so engrossed in the game of 64 squares that today she is making the country proud in the world. This daughter is Dilya Deshmukh, who is now 19 years old and recently became the news after winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup by defeating her role model and compatriot Koneru Humpy who is twice her age. Divya has become the first Indian player to win the Women’s Chess World Cup title. She has also become a bandmaster. She has become the fourth Indian and the 44th female player in the world to achieve this feat and she has become the 88th bandmaster of India, including both men and women. By winning the Under-12 World Cup at the age of 11, Divya had expressed her intentions that she is going to become the new champion of this game of 64 squares.
The beginning
Divya Deshmukh was born on 9 December 2005 in Nagpur as the younger daughter of Jitendra and Nabta Dajukh, who are also doctors by profession. Her elder sister, whom she saw in the field, is studying law. Dilya did her early education from Bhadas Bhas Punhit Vidya Mandir in Nagpur. To give more time to the game, she is now pursuing distance education.
Grandfather and Vinoba Bhave
Divya has a deep connection with Uttar Pradesh. Her maternal grandfather, Hon. Durgaprasad Sharma, was a resident of Prempur village in Saukhar block of Nirjapur, who himself was a great fan of chess. He used to play chess almost every Saturday with Gandhian Vinoba Bhave.
Journey to become a World Cup winner
Divya started playing chess at the age of 19. After this, she became the first Indian to win the gold medal in the 2020 Olympics along with Dheer Chaugai and Under-12 Vish Dilya in 2017. In 2022, she won the gold medal for India in the 2020 Olympics. Last year, she defeated world number one player Hou Yishan of China in the Under 20 singles during the Kimiz Team Chess Championship in Delhi in June 2025. Now she has completed her graduation. She will play to become the current champion in this tournament.
Grandmasters helped
Hungary’s Grandmaster (GM) Kasaya Bal helped Divya. Along with this, 25-year-old GM Abhimanyu Purashik, a resident of Mumbai, helped the director of this tournament. Rahul Joshi, former coach Ramesh and GM Abhijeet Kusht have also helped in improving Diya’s game.
Fighting till the end like Dhoni
Diya Deshmukh remains very calm and composed during the game, due to which her coach Srinath Narayanan has compared her to former Indian wicket-keeping captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, famous as Captain Cool. Just like Dhoni wins the match without losing patience till the last ball of the opening match, Diya also does not give up till the last game. Diya wins all the formats of chess brilliantly in classical rapid and missile.
Football and clothing
Divya was fond of chess in her childhood. Now Dilya is the fourth master of India after Rahul and Aarti. Her mother has a great contribution in taking Divya forward. In almost every tournament, Diya is discussed not only about her farm but also about her jewellery and rhyme. She puts tattoos on her nails. In the final of the World Cup, she had a chess board made on her nails.
Objection to gender discrimination
Divya Deshmukh is a chess master. During the Wilk Unzie tournament in Netherlands, she wrote in Hoshi and Ho Sun Janji and expressed her strong views on the discrimination against women. She is also ready to get less honorarium than the great men in the game and talks about equality.
This is India’s golden era in chess: Polgar
On Divya’s World Cup win, she said, her mental toughness and fighting spirit showed wonders
Batumi. Former world champion and the world’s third female grandmaster Susan Polgar described 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh’s Women’s Chess World Cup win as a result of her mental toughness and strong desire to win.
Divya defeated her compatriot Koneru Humpy, who is twice her age, by 2.5-1.5. She also became India’s 88th grandmaster. Discussing her game and skills, 56-year-old chess legend Susan said, Divya was not a favorite before the tournament, but her fighting spirit made her win. It was her day. Players like Divya, Gukesh are fearless under the guidance of Vishwanathan Anand and their victory.
Gukesh also has amazing qualities
Susan said, when Gukesh became a Grandmaster at the age of 12, he was not ranked among the top Indian players. I immediately chose him to move to the forefront. Some people thought I was making a mistake by making such a prediction. But as a coach who has trained and worked with more than 50 Grandmasters, I saw amazing qualities in him.
The hunger for success makes him special. This is India’s golden age in chess. All the players are domestic and respect and support each other.
Parliament praised Divya-Humpy’s achievement
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla praised Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy in Parliament. He said, India’s Divya Deshmukh won the Women’s Chess World Cup final and she is the first Indian woman to do so. Divya won the final by defeating compatriot Humpy. We are happy that both of them were in the finals. This is very good news for India.
- I have nothing to lose in the final
Chess World Cup champion daughter said, there was no pressure on her
19-year-old Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, who returned home after winning the World Cup, says that she was not under any kind of pressure against compatriot 38-year-old Koneru Humpy in the final, because she had nothing to lose.
Divya was given a grand welcome on her return from Batumi (Georgia) on Wednesday night. Divya not only won the World Cup by defeating Humpy in the final but also achieved the title of Grandmaster. She is the fourth daughter of the country to become a Grandmaster.
Expressed hope for women chess
Divya credits her success to Divya feels that her parents and children have given her a new flight and have given her the courage to support them at the time of failure.
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