Indian triumph in chess, two Indian women Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpi reach final of the FIDE womens world cup chess final

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, July 25, 2025

In a resounding triumph of Indian chess two Indian women, Divya Deshmukh (19) of Nagpur, Maharashtra and Koneru Humpi (38) of Andhra Pradesh have reached the final of the ongoing Womens World Cup Chess being played in the city of Batumi in Georgia in the Caucasus region. The final thus is an all Indian affair and both the gold and silver medals will come to the nation. Teenaged Divya Deshmukh who has displayed flashes of brilliance in chess from her childhood convincingly came over a stiff challenge put up by her Chinese rival and former world womens champion (2018) Tan Zhongyi in the semi-final on Wednesday last. Her aged compatriot Koneru Humpi , India’s first woman grandmaster and the world champion in rapid chess in 2013 and 2024, also accounted for tough Chinese rival Lei Tingjiye in a hard fought eight game semi final.

According to reports from the Indian Chess Federation Divya Deshmukh who bagged the world junior chess championship title this year in June has already earned the first of the three norms required for the coveted title of grandmaster by reaching the world cup final. The Indian chess experts , euphoric over the triumphs of Divya and Koneru, said that going by her current form Divya will achieve her two more grandmaster norms in a matter of months. “In the final we will see a thrilling battle centred on Koneru Humpi’s technical solidity and Divya’s attacking genius ; whoever wins, it will be a major victory for Indian chess” said a chess expert.

He recalled the days of struggle of Indian chess when India had no grandmaster till the year 1988 when Vishwanathan Anand had become the country’s first grandmaster. “Anand went on to become the world junior champion and then five time world champion but by now we have as many as 85 grandmasters and the second and youngest ever world champion in Dommaranu Gukesh ; at present we also have four Indian grandmasters among top ten in the world which once was unimaginable” said the expert. He regretted that, being an indoor game of intellect, chess does not enjoy the sponsorship and commercial backing like cricket but Indian achievements in chess over the past thirty years are greater than cricket that is showered with money, glamour and other things by virtue of being a spectators game.

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