Updated on: Jul 31, 2025 04:54 pm IST
Divya Deshmukh is the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup title and she wasn’t even a GM before the tournament.
Divya Deshmukh got a grand welcome on her return to Nagpur, after winning the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup title in Batumi (Georgia). The 19-year-old was welcomed by a massive crowd at the airport in Nagpur, as family, friends and chess fans from across the city flocked to cheer for her.
On arriving in Nagpur, she said, “I am so happy to receive this affection. My heart is full.”
“I’ll take some rest this month and prepare for Grand Swiss next,” she added.
Here is the full video of her Nagpur welcome:
Divya defeated Koneru Humpy in the final, and was extremely emotional after the win. There were tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as she hugged her mother, who tried to calm her down.
During her post-match interview, she said, “I need time to process it. I think it was fate, me getting the Grandmaster title this way. Because before this, I didn’t even have one norm, and before this tournament, I was thinking ‘Oh, where can I get my norm’ and now I’m a Grandmaster.”
Analysing her game, she conceded that she needs to improve in her endgames. “I definitely need to learn endgames. I’m pretty sure at some point I messed it up. I’m not sure how. It should have been an easy win. I think I should not allow g4. But I think maybe I should just go rook a3, rook f3, rook g3, and that should be a win,” she said.
“It definitely means a lot. But of course, there’s uh there’s a lot more to achieve. So this I’m hoping this is just a start,” she added.
She is also the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup title and she wasn’t even a GM before the tournament. She bagged the GM title after beating Humpy, becoming India’s 88th. Her qualification for the final also saw her get a berth at next year’s Candidates Tournament.
