After 24 days of fighting chess in the Georgian city of Batumi, Divya Deshmukh became the FIDE Women’s World Cup champion by defeating the veteran Koneru Humpy in the final via the tiebreaks. Divya winning the Women’s World Cup also makes her eligible to be India’s fourth woman to become a grandmaster, which is significant because before the event started, she had none of the three norms required to become a grandmaster.
The Divya vs Humpy finale was a battle of generations, with the 19-year-old Divya being half the age of the veteran Humpy, who is India’s first woman to become a grandmaster. But more importantly, it was a battle between Indians while two Chinese stars Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie fought for the third spot. Since Humpy became a GM, just two women have followed suit and become grandmasters. Thanks to the win today, Divya joins that elusive list.
“I think it was fate, me getting the grandmaster title this way,” an emotional Divya said right after her win. “Before the tournament, I didn’t even have one norm. I was thinking that I could maybe earn a grandmaster norm here. And at the end, I became a grandmaster.”
One of Divya’s first reactions after winning the title was: “I definitely need to learn endgames.”
She ended the interview by saying: “This means a lot. but there’s a lot more to achieve. I’m hoping this is just the start.”
On Monday, after the first game ended in a draw, Divya won the second tiebreak game thanks to a blunder from Humpy.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who was doing commentary for the official live broadcast summed up the final by saying: “Dramatic! Humpy just collapsed. It was totally self-inflicted. This was one of those situations where your nerves get the better of you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
INTERACTIVE: How Divya Deshmukh beat Koneru Humpy
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Right after Divya won, there were emotional scenes in the playing hall as Divya found her mother and teared up.
Divya Deshmukh reacts as she embraces her mother after becoming the FIDE Women’s World Champion by defeating Koneru Humpy in Batumi. (PHOTO: Screengrab via FIDE YouTube)
Divya’s hug to her mom says everything ❤️#FIDEWorldCup @DivyaDeshmukh05 pic.twitter.com/jeOa6CjNc1
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 28, 2025
Divya Deshmukh reacts as she embraces her mother after becoming the FIDE Women’s World Champion by defeating Koneru Humpy in Batumi. (PHOTO: Screengrab via FIDE YouTube)
The first two classical games between Humpy and Divya had ended in draws. The first game, which was played on Saturday, was where Divya had the best chances to win, while playing with white pieces. She came with a plan and got a sizeable advantage on the board. But then at the end, she scuffed her lines and allowed Humpy to equalise.
Divya had said that that draw had “felt like a loss” to her. “I had seen everything (beforehand). So I was disappointed by that,” she said.
Humpy too had agreed that Divya was “clearly better” after 12 moves. “After that move, I’m not sure what was going on, but it was very complicated,” Humpy admitted.
In the second game, the game was ambling along to a draw from the start itself. But Divya said that she had wandered “into trouble for no apparent reason.”
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Divya, who is an International Master, was the underdog coming into the tiebreaks, because the games were played in the rapid format and Humpy became the World Rapid Champion for the second time in her career in December last year. Humpy is also currently ranked no 5 in the world in the FIDE ratings list for women while Divya is world no 18 (which makes her the fourth ranked Indian on the list). In other formats too, Humpy is ranked much higher than the teenager from Nagpur: In rapid, Humpy is no 10 in the world while Divya is no 22. In blitz, while the veteran is no 10 in the world among women, Divya is no 18.
Just like Divya, Humpy was also a prodigy back in the day. In fact, Humpy was once the youngest woman to achieve the grandmaster title, when she beat Judit Polgar’s record by three months to reach there at the age of 15 years, one month and 27 days.
Reaching the FIDE Women’s World Cup final is a significant achievement for Divya. It was just last year that she was crowned the world junior champion in the girls section. In the 13 months since, she is already fighting for the second-most prestigious title in women’s chess. Divya was also the inspiration behind the Indian women’s team winning a gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest last year where she claimed an individual gold as well for her board.
