Published on: Oct 26, 2025 03:46 pm IST
D Gukesh won gold on the top board and in the women’s section, Divya Deshmukh clinched gold on the second board.
Ahead of the upcoming Chess World Cup, Indian players had an impressive outing at the European Club Cup, in Rhodes (Greece). D Gukesh clinched gold on the top board and his team SuperChess also emerged as champions. The performance will be a huge boost for Gukesh, as he has been in inconsistent form since becoming the World Champion.
In the women’s section, Divya Deshmukh bagged gold on the second board and her team Cercle d’echecs de Monte Carlo became champions. Divya is the only woman competitor in the upcoming World Cup, and her performance puts her in good shape ahead of the tournament in India.
The Chess World Cup 2025 is scheduled to take place in Goa from 31 October to 27 November. The winner, runner-up and third-place finisher will also get berths at the 2026 Candidates. There are 24 players from India participatingi n the tournament. Gukesh is the top seed and Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa are the second and third seeds.
Gukesh ended 2024 by becoming the new World Champion. But 2025 has been a tough year for him. In January, he lost to R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaker round to decide the winner of the Tata Masters. Meanwhile in the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, he came eighth and then 11th in the Paris leg. He was in action in the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 in Romania, and also came sixth.
At Norway Chess, he came third with 14.5 points, including a win over Magnus Carlsen. He also beat Carlsen in the Rapid section of the SuperUnited Croatia 2025.
