Indian chess prodigy Divya Deshmukh has been a revelation in the ongoing FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025, happening in Batumi, Georgia. The 19-year-old knocked out former World Champion Tan Zhongyi in the semifinal to become the first-ever Indian woman to reach the finals of the World Cup. She also qualified for the prestigious Candidates tournament and won her first GM norm in the process.
Beating Tan wasn’t a cakewalk for the Nagpur girl. In an extremely wild game where the position was so sharp that the evaluation bar was dancing every move. Eventually it came down to a nervy rook endgame, which is a draw-prone endgame, but Divya converted the game by having an extra pawn.
The topsy-turvy win meant Divya didn’t have to take the semifinal to the tiebreaks and get two days of rest before playing her first final. After the game, Divya apologised for giving so many “heart attacks” due to her wild game. She posted on Instagram stories, “I’m sorry for all the heart attacks today.”
“Jokes apart, thank you for all the support and love. Ready for the final fight,” wrote Divya.
The teenage sensation was interviewed by the official broadcasters just after registering the biggest win of her career. On being quizzed on the game, a perplexed Divya, who was still soaking in all the emotions after a stunning Tan, the current World Championship challenger, a zoned out Divya said: I don’t know… I think I could have played much better.”
“I was winning at one point, then I messed up in the middle game. I think I should have had a much smoother win. She (Tan) put up such a good fight after a point that I was just doubting if this will end up as a draw but I think I got lucky in the end,” she added.
Divya will face the winner of Koneru Humpy vs Lei Tingjie, whose semifinal clash has moved to tiebreaks after the duo played out two draws in their Classical legs. A relieved Divya, who will get an extra day of rest before an all-important final, said: “I need some sleep…. these days have been so anxious. I just need some sleep and some food.”
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