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Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Who is Divya Deshmukh and why is she trending?
Divya Deshmukh is a name that's getting everyone's attention recently. At a young age, she has become a rising star in Indian chess, getting her name etched in global rankings and making history along the way. Divya has a string of impressive performances, with gold medals in the Chess Olympiad, Asian Championship, World Youth and Junior events, and she has already cemented herself as one of India's most dynamic young talents. Who is Divya Deshmukh Divya is a 19-year-old rising talent in the field of Chess. She was born and raised in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and began playing chess at a young age. Her early education at Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir prepared her for a disciplined journey in the sport. She became India's 21st WGM in 2021 and earned her IM title two years later. With a peak FIDE rating over 2500 in October 2024, she's firmly placed among the top players of her age. Divya's achievements Divya has consistently delivered outstanding performances on big stages. She claimed three individual gold medals across Chess Olympiads, added titles at the Asian Championship, World Youth, and World Junior events, and notably won the 2023 Asian Women's Chess Championship in Almaty, according to Wikipedia. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like AirSense 11 – Smart tech for deep sleep ResMed Buy Now Undo Additionally, her successes in rapid tournaments like Tata Steel India and Sharjah Challengers in 2023–24 brought to light her versatility across time formats too. Why is Divya Deshmukh trending Deshmush has recently been in the headlines as the teen chess star gave India another big reason to celebrate at the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 by becoming only the second Indian woman ever to reach the semi-finals. The 19-year-old International Master beat fellow Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli by 2-0 in a thrilling rapid tiebreak in Batumi on Monday, after their quarter-final ended in a draw. Divya now joins chess veteran Koneru Humpy in the final four, marking the first time India has two players in the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup. In the next round, Humpy will take on top-seeded Lei Tingjie of China, while Divya will face another Chinese star, Tan Zhongyi. The stakes are high as the top three finishers at this tournament will earn a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which decides who gets to challenge for the Women's World Chess Championship. With Humpy and Divya making it this far, India is now guaranteed at least one spot in that major event.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
FIDE Women's World Cup 2025: Indians in action in semifinals; match-ups, colours, live streaming info
FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, Indians in action in semifinals: The third edition of the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 will feature two Indians, Koneru Humpy and Divya Divya taking on two Chinese opponents, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi respectively, for a place in the final. It also guarantees India at least one spot in next year's Candidates Tournament – that will decide the eventual challenger to women's world champion Ju Wenjun, who has held the title since 2018. The top three finishers from the ongoing tournament make it to the Candidates and even if both Humpy and Divya are defeated at the semifinal stage, they will face each other in a third-place playoff. Humpy handed tournament giant slayer China's Yuxin Song a straight 1.5-0.5 defeat in the Classical match to become the first ever Indian to reach World Cup semis, whereas Divya had taken her quarterfinal match against compatriot Harika Dronavalli into tiebreaks, where she beat Harika 2-0 to advance through. The FIDE Women's World Cup is the most crucial event in the World Championship cycle, offering three qualifying spots for Candidates. The Women's Grand Prix Series 2024-25 and the Grand Swiss provide two spots each, while the last is reserved for the highest-placed player in the 'FIDE Women's Events 2025-26' series. The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, in this case, China's Ju Wenjun. Both Humpy and Divya will play their first match with white pieces. The FIDE Women's World Cup will be streamed live on FIDE's YouTube channel.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
FIDE allots Chess World Cup to India after 23-year gap; Ahmedabad and Goa in the running
NAGPUR: The world chess federation (FIDE) on Monday gave India the hosting rights for the World Cup (open) to be held from Oct 30 to November 27. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) won the bid to host the World Cup after a gap of 23 years, but infighting among officials delayed the announcement of the city where the world's best players will battle for the coveted title, along with three qualification spots for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. TOI has learnt that the 29-day event will be staged either in Goa or Ahmedabad. An AICF official said, 'Having won the bid, we will start the process of approval from the govt. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Once that is done, we will soon announce the host city. Both Goa and Ahmedabad are interested in playing host to the world's top players. Everything will be finalised in our next executive meeting.' New Delhi had hosted the knockout world championship in 2000 but the title clash was staged in Tehran. Hyderabad then hosted the eight-player World Cups (both Open and women) in 2002 when it was played in group-cum-knockout format. In a statement, FIDE said: 'The World Cup 2025 will feature 206 players competing in a knockout format — a dynamic and unpredictable system where the losing player in each round is eliminated. The event has used several formats over the years, but since 2021, it has followed a single-elimination format.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals Undo A handful of Indian players will take part in the eightround knockout tournament. Every round will be played for three days — two classical games on the initial two days, followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaks. The top 50 rated players will take part from the second round while players seeded from 51 to 206 will compete in the opening round. As per the June rating list, as many as 20 Indian players including world champion D Gukesh have already qualified to participate in the World Cup. FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky said, 'We are thrilled to bring the FIDE World Cup 2025 to India, a country with a deeprooted passion and support for chess. Indian chess fans' enthusiasm has always been remarkable, and we anticipate great interest in the event among local chess lovers, both on-site and online.' Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Inspired Divya Deshmukh takes down Harika in rapid
Divya Deshmukh (Image credit FIDE) Making the most of her favourite chess format, World junior champion Divya Deshmukh made it to the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday. Nagpur's 19-year-old International Master (IM) knocked down veteran Grandmaster D Harika in the first set of quarterfinal tiebreaks played in Divya's favourite rapid format. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The win saw her take a bold step towards qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament. Divya won both her games played with the white and black pieces to clinch the quarterfinal 3-1, a day after the compatriots drew two of their classical games. Divya was overwhelmed with emotions after winning the second tiebreak game, which at one stage was a losing contest for her. She said, 'Happy with the way I played today. I think the preparation had a lot of role in the first rapid game today. I would like to thank my coach for this. The last game didn't go the way I thought. In the second game, Harika played quite well, I am just glad it's over.' In the day's opening game played in the rapid format, Divya utilised her opening advantage with white pieces well. Divya opted for the Giuoco Piano Game with Center attack, utilising her pawn. On the 22nd and 24th turns, Harika made a couple of dubious moves, and Divya found her attacking weapon. On the 33rd move, Divya snatched Harika's queen by exchanging her rook to take a firm grip on the contest. She converted the queen vs rook endgame and took the lead by winning the contest in 57 moves. In the following game with black pieces, Divya chose the Slav Defense of Modern Line. After Divya played a couple of questionable moves, Harika made a mistake on the 18th turn. Despite that, the game remained equal with a couple of Harika's bishops and Divya's knight and bishop. A 60th move by Divya confused Harika, and she made back-to-back blunders on the 61st and 63rd turns. Divya was severely low on time and on the verge of losing the contest, but she started making her moves fast and succeeded in going a pawn up. When Divya made her winning 76th move by advancing her pawn, Harika resigned. From Tuesday, the semifinal battles will be played between India and China. Divya will face China's World No. 8 Tan Zhongyi, and Koneru Humpy will be up against top seed Lei Tingjie. With the top three finishers qualifiyng for the Women's Candidates tournament, both Humpy and Divya can earn the right to fight in the event from where the World Champion Challenger will be identified. On her plans against Tan in the semifinals, Divya said, 'I always wanted to avoid tiebreaks, but it's not in my hands. I just want to forget everything and eat now. After that, I will start preparing.' On who was the toughest opponent in the World Cup so far, Divya said, 'Zhu was the toughest opponent. Winning against Zhu in tiebreaks gave me confidence, and today it reflected in my play.' Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
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First Post
5 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
'Beating Zhu Jiner gave me confidence': Divya Deshmukh reflects on historic Chess World Cup run, credits mother's support
Indian teenage chess star Divya Deshmukh added a new chapter to her rising reputation on Monday, becoming only the second Indian to reach the semi-finals of the FIDE Women's World Cup. She reflects on her mother's support and the key factors behind her memorable run. read more Divya Deshmukh is only the second Indian to reach the semi-finals of FIDE Women's World Cup. Images: FIDE Teenage sensation Divya Deshmukh doubled India's delight at the ongoing FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 by becoming the second Indian woman ever to qualify for the semi-finals. The 19-year-old International Master from Nagpur, Maharashtra, defeated compatriot Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in a thrilling rapid tiebreak in Batumi on Monday after their quarter-final match ended in a draw. Divya will join veteran Koneru Humpy in the semi-finals, making it the first time India will have two players in the last four stage of a FIDE Women's World Cup. Humpy will face top seed Lei Tingjie of China in her semi-final, while Divya will be up against Tan Zhongyi, also from China. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The top three players from the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 will be guaranteed a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which will be played to find the challenger for the World Chess Championship. With two semi-finalists, India are guaranteed at least one spot. Divya Deshmukh reaches World Cup final 4 The impact of the history-making feat was quite evident on Divya's face as she defeated Harika. The teenager took a while to compose herself and recollect her thoughts. In a candid chat with Woman International Master Charlize van Zyl, Divya shared that he was still shaking from the memorable win. 'Very shaky,' she told FIDE. 'I think I am happy with the way I played. I don't think the last game went well but, not really (worried)…My preparation had a lot of role in that game and I would like to thank my coach for that.' 🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh is through to the semifinals of the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup!#FIDEWorldCup @DivyaDeshmukh05 — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 21, 2025 Divya has, of course, successfully crossed multiple odds to reach the semi-finals. Reflecting on her history-making journey, Divya said that the tiebreak win over second seed Zhiu Jiner of China in Round 4 of the tournament gave her the required confidence. 'Zhu Jiner was definitely my toughest opponent up to now and winning the tiebreak against her gave me confidence for this one. I didn't want to play tiebreaks but this is my fate, and for the moment it's going well' Divya added. In a separate social media post by FIDE, Divya spoke about her mother and how her support has helped her go this deep in the tournament. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD "She is the biggest support here. I don't think that I would have come this far without her. It's really nice to see somebody who's always cheering on you in your good times and bad times." - 🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh on her mother 📷 Anna Shtourman/FIDE — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 21, 2025 'She is the biggest support here. I don't think that I would have come this far without her. It's really nice to see somebody who's always cheering on you in your good times and bad times.'
