19-year-old Divya Deshmukh was overwhelmed with emotion as she clinched the biggest win of her career, defeating senior compatriot Koneru Humpy to claim the Women’s World Cup 2025 title.
Divya, born three years after Humpy became a Grandmaster, outplayed the veteran in the second rapid game of the first tie-breaker set, prevailing in a tense and finely balanced endgame.
The teenager broke down in tears after shaking hands with Humpy. She then rushed into the arms of her mother, who had been by her side throughout the tournament in Batumi, Georgia. Even as she embraced her mother, Divya couldn’t hold back her tears, fully absorbing the magnitude of her accomplishment.
As congratulatory messages poured in for the 19-year-old, Divya still needed the comfort of her mother’s arms to begin to grasp the significance of what she had achieved.
Divya became the first Indian chess player to win the Women’s FIDE Chess World Cup. Hailing from Nagpur, she also earned the Grandmaster title—becoming only the fourth Indian woman to do so. Remarkably, she achieved this via an unconventional route, as she did not complete the usual three GM norms or reach the 2,500 Elo rating mark.
Having drawn the two classical games, it was the first set of tie-breakers that proved decisive, as Humpy faltered under pressure. While Divya secured a historic title, the World Cup continued to elude Humpy. The seasoned campaigner has achieved nearly everything in the sport—except the World Cup and the World Championship. The wait, unfortunately, goes on.
How the Tie-Breakers Unfolded
Emerging from a Petroff Defence, the first tie-breaker saw Divya enter an isolated queen-pawn middlegame and even sacrifice a pawn, seemingly giving Humpy the upper hand. However, with her clock ticking down, Humpy returned the favour, and soon found herself facing a position with a rook, bishop, and pawn against Divya’s queen.
Despite this, the game remained approximately equal, and Humpy managed to force a draw with relative ease.
In the return game, Humpy opted for the Catalan Opening, but once again, Divya was well-prepared and equalised comfortably. Humpy sacrificed a pawn early on, but the resulting queen-and-rook endgame led to another draw.
It was on the 40th move that Humpy lost her composure, attempting to break through with a speculative pawn sacrifice. Although Divya missed a stronger continuation, the rook-and-pawns endgame that followed still led to equality.
But this was Divya’s day. As Humpy once again struggled with time pressure, she blundered in the endgame, allowing Divya to reach a theoretically winning position—securing both the game and the coveted title.
– Ends
