Latest news with #WorldRapidChampion
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First Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
'The new queen of world chess': India rejoices as Divya Deshmukh clinches FIDE Women's World Cup title
Divya Deshmukh has defeated compatriot Kaneru Humpy in the final of the FIDE Women's World Cup. Deshmukh won the title after Humpy made a blunder in game 2 of the tie-breaker. read more in the tiebreaker of the all-India final to clinch the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. The 19-year-old has become the youngest FIDE World Cup winner and has also attained the coveted Grandmaster title. Divya is India's 88th Grandmaster and 4th Women's Grandmaster. Earlier, the classical games ended in stalemates. Game 1 on Saturday finished in a draw after 41 moves, whereas Game 2 finished much earlier after just 34 moves. As the action moved to tiebreakers, Game 1 of the tiebreaker also ended in a draw, but Divya emerged victorious in the second game after Humpy made a blunder. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'It was fate,' an emotional Divya said right after her win. 'Before the tournament, I was thinking that I could maybe earn a grandmaster norm here. And at the end, I became a grandmaster.' It will go down as a historic campaign for Divya for varied reasons. She entered the tournament as an underdog and exceeded expectations with each passing round. She defeated several top seeds, including 2nd seed Zhu Jiner in the 4th round, 10th seed Harika D in the quarterfinals, 3rd seed Tan Zhongyi in the semifinals, and ultimately 4th seed Koneru Humpy in the final. While she dominated her opponents in the tournament, the odds were still not in her favour in the final tiebreaker. Humpy, who became the World Rapid Champion for the second time in her career in December last year, was the favourite against Deshmukh, but Divya capitalised on the blunder made by Humpy and eventually became the champion. India celebrate Divya Deshmukh's epic victory Social media is abuzz with the victory of Divya Deshmukh, and the entire chess community is celebrating her glorious achievement. From 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand to FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky, the Chess world has hailed the new FIDE Women's World Cup winner. Divya Deshmukh wins the FIDE Women's World Cup! What an achievement for a 19-years-old Indian player! Not only she becomes the youngest Women's World Cup winner, but also gets a GM title. Amazing feat! Bravo! — Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) July 28, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is 'GM' Divya Deshmukh now. — Sahil Tickoo (@chess_assist) July 28, 2025 Divya Deshmukh at this #FIDEWomenWorldCup - Defeated 2nd seed Zhu Jiner in R4 - Defeated 10th seed Harika D in QF - Defeated 3rd seed Tan Zhongyi in SF - Defeated 4th seed Humpy Konery in the final - Become a Grand Master - Qualified for the Candidates — Ranjith (Iga's version) (@iam_rrt) July 28, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Congratulations to @Divyadeshmukh05 on winning the World Cup. Becoming GM and a spot in the candidates. Amazing battle of nerves. @humpy_koneru played a very good event and showed a commendable fighting spirit . The great champion she is! It was a great celebration of Indian… — Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) July 28, 2025 The new queen of world chess #divyadeshmukh #fideworldcup — Prateek Arya (@Pratitudesporty) July 28, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At 19, it is just a start of Divya Deshmukh's journey to rule the sport. After becoming the first Indian to win the FIDE Women's World Cup. She will now enter the candidates tournament and will eye the World Championship.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Divya Deshmukh, 19, beats Koneru Humpy to become Women's World Cup champion and India's 4th woman to be grandmaster
After 24 days of fighting chess, Divya Deshmukh became the FIDE Women's World Cup champion at Georgia's Batumi after defeating the veteran Koneru Humpy in the final via the tiebreaks. Divya's win also makes her eligible to be India's fourth woman to become a grandmaster. This 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. Since Humpy became a GM, just two women have followed suit and become grandmasters. Thanks to the win today, Divya joins that elusive list. On Monday, after the first game ended in a draw, Divya won the second tiebreak game thanks to a blunder from Humpy. 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.' 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.
Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Norway Chess: Anna Muzychuk says Stavanger tournament will be ‘strongest women's event'
World No 8 women's chess player Anna Muzychuk believes that the upcoming Norway Chess women's event will be the strongest women's event in the sport. Besides Muzychuk (rated 2526), the Norway Chess women's event this year will see the following players: Ju Wenjun (FIDE rating: 2580), who recently won her fourth women's world championship title; Lei Tingjie (rated 2552), who is the Women's World No 3; Humpy Koneru (rated 2543), who is women's World No.5 and a two-time World Rapid Champion; Vaishali Rameshbabu (rated 2475), a bronze medal winner at the Women's World Blitz Championship and a Olympiad gold winner; and Sara Khadem (rated 2449). Anna, who finished as the runner-up last year in the inaugural edition of Norway Chess Women's tournament, expects a strong and unpredictable competition this year. 'I think it's the strongest women's event if we are looking at the ratings. It will be super tough. Each participant has a real chance to win it. I think it will be exciting, and I am really looking forward to it,' she said. After a remarkable win at the prestigious Nicosia Women's Grand Prix in March, the Ukrainian Grandmaster shifted her focus completely towards the Austria Grand Prix, currently underway. While it would be her final Grand Prix of the ongoing cycle, the 35-year-old would travel a week later for the highly anticipated 2025 edition of Norway Women's Chess to compete against some of the top talents of the sport. 'It's great to have successes, but you always have to go forward and focus on the next tournaments and next goals,' Anna said. Anna explained the challenges that come with a life in chess. 'In chess, we can see young players becoming grandmasters at the age of 12. To achieve that, you have to work a lot,' Anna said. 'Nowadays, you cannot start too late if you want to be a top level player. Every time, you have to think if you are ready to sacrifice your childhood. Whether you want to be a part of fun activities with other children or work on chess and try to achieve more. It depends on the child and also a lot on the parents because they have to be supportive,' she added. Anna has also been quite vocal on equal rights for women over the years and also has been an advocate for growth of female players in chess. With Norway Chess providing equal pay for men and women, Anna feels it will motivate more female players to pick up the sport. 'All the participants are really thankful to the organizers of the Norway Chess for making equal price fund for both men and women. It will give additional motivation to all the girls around the world,' she said.
