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Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Divya Deshmukh, with edgy, exuberant attacking style, raises hope that India has next big thing in women's chess
While anything halfway cerebral in physical sport gets dubbed a move 'like chess', Divya Deshmukh, the actual chess ace, has been bringing Novak Djokovic's combative counterpunches to her chess boards. 'It's just the way Djokovic plays and wins,' Divya said last week, after pulling a third place medal at Pune 's Women's Grand Prix with a clutch of wins, even as the 19-year-old firebrand looks to score her GM norms in the coming months. Divya's is hardly a generation that sets a lot of store on sporting idols when chasing greatness herself. Asked two years back which chess player she looked up to, she nonchalantly said she was inspired by many like Vishy Anand, but she's never had a 'perfect role model' whose career she wanted to mimic. 'No one that makes me feel this is where I want to be,' she had said. So it's not so much about Djoker posters on walls and idly charging into GOAT debates in tennis' fan wars. She was intrigued by the sport enough to pick a racquet and start playing herself. 'I've just begun playing tennis recently,' she would say. The last one year has been a roller coaster, not unlike the tournament in Pune where she was stringing together wins against Nurgyul Salimova, R Vaishali, Melia Salome and Batkhuyag Munguntuul on good days, and being yanked back to the ground on others, like by the Chinese eventual second-placed Zhu Jiner. Calculated risks and catching opponents off guard has underpinned Divya's wins last season. Just to get a sense of what sort of 2024 she had, look at her rating gains of 70 rating points in the 12 months of 2024 — by contrast, Aravindh Chitambaram rose 64 points, Arjun grew by 63, and World Champion Gukesh added 52 to his tally. Even as Koneru Humpy persists with her attempts at the world champion's crown, there's more than just her fans who reckon she has the right attitude to one day fight for the elusive women's world title. The tournament organisation head GM Abhijit Kunte explained that leap of belief. 'She's easily our best bet for a world champion. She's already been a World junior champion, and won an Olympiad gold with India. She's ticking all the boxes and competing amongst the world elite. The way she's playing, it's a trajectory like Viswanathan Anand's. Within two years of winning the junior world crown, Anand was fighting the elite,' he says. Ask Divya about these lofty expectations, and she slays the thought with enough confidence and detachment. 'People will always have expectations. I care about mine,' she says. She hadn't been following the daily standings deliberately, she says, 'Pune tournament was a roller-coaster. I liked some of my attacking wins, especially against Munguntuul. But losses like the one to Zhu Jiner will haunt.' She's at an ELO rating of 2460 this month, having crossed 2500 briefly last November. But Divya remains a fiery IM, not unafraid to take down established GMs, even as she chases her norms in a season that has offered her a glimpse of how cutthroat elite chess can get. 'I didn't perform to the best of my ability and was up against a lot of strong players last year. Some very rocky matches,' Divya would say, though she's happy and comfortable with her edgy, exuberant attacking style. Even as the Chinese continue to dominate, she will most likely form the next generation of buccaneer piece-movers, with Russian Polina Shuvalova, who play risky, fighting chess and are tactically and positionally versatile. 'Attacking chess is just something inbuilt. Since my age-category days, I always go for gold. It's like permanent 'strike' mode,' she says. 'I play chess because I enjoy it. And that has the highest highs and lowest lows both,' she adds. Pune had been a happy hunting ground for Divya, for it is in this western Maharashtra city that the eastern Maharashtra ace (she's from Warna, near Nagpur) won her first nationals. Coach Rahul Joshi had helped the family navigate everything from which tournaments to play in, and what would be the best pathways, as well as juggling playing finances. For her mother, Dr Namrata Deshmukh, chess wasn't something her younger daughter just lightly waded into. A gynaec, Dr Namrata, gave up on her medical practice largely to focus on Divya's dreams on the chequered squares, even as the elder daughter played a spot of badminton. Divya's father played chess, but so did Dr Durgaprasad Sharma, Namrata's grandfather, whose Saturday routines of a chess game with social justice fighter Vinoba Bhave, formed the stuff of stories the whole family listened to. 'We are from a small town, Warna. And frankly we didn't even know chess had formal competitions initially,' the mother says. 'In the beginning as doctors it was unimaginable as parents that our daughter was not going to school, not studying just to play chess. She was always dedicated, but it's a huge risk. And after a point, she didn't want to come out of it (chess world),' she adds. Was it a sacrifice, giving up on a practice? 'Cant call it that, as if it's a burden. She was happy and interested in chess, so we had to support it. I saw it as my duty since she was performing well. But yes, I feel bad about ignoring the older one.' Chess has made Divya quieter and wiser beyond her years, though she still loves to sing and dance at home with exuberance, Dr Namrata says. 'The more she travels, the more she likes home food too. Anything chicken,' she says. Tennis — via Djokovic's sliding on clay — is Divya's new habit-in-the-making. R&B music of Weeknd, the singer known for his introspective lyrics, is an old fix. The world has its own thoughts on timelines that might see Divya fight one day for the world title. 'I have my own,' she says, knowing the steep ascent on this mountain is a jagged, terribly rocky face, teeming with some massive names. She's just trying to do a Djoker in chess — stomp through in the Federer-Nadal world.
Indian Express
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
How ‘free-spirited' Koneru Humpy lost and found motivation to play top-level chess: 'I've started feeling the buzz again'
You could be someone that dreams in black-and-white checks since forever that you can remember and go onto very close to World No 1 in women's chess. But one sleepless night with mosquitos swarming the hotel room of the event you are competing in can still throw all plans into disarray. Good thing then that Koneru Humpy has enough experience in swatting away such irritants and keeping her poise. Fighting from extremely precarious situations in the penultimate round to hold onto a draw after blundering, the 38-year-old, did well to secure a Knight-ending against Nurgyul Salimova and finished tops jointly with Chinese Zhu Jiner on 7/9 points. A better tie-break score however gave India's finest women's chess player, the title win at Pune 's Women's Grand Prix. 5.6 million tuned in on the live online broadcast over the 9 rounds – a record for any women's Grand Prix, but the chess chatrooms crescendoed with over 1000 on the FIDE feed as Humpy rode a rollercoaster to ensure the win. Zhu Jiner had won her final game earlier, which meant Humpy had to tie up the decisive result against the Bulgarian, and she kept it clinical. While the Candidates spot wasn't sealed, Humpy reckons she has rediscovered her sharpness in the classical format, which had gone missing last year. 'It's been a long time since I did well in classical. I had struggled the whole of last year, losing heavily, so I was happy to improve in that format,' she said. 'The upturn started after winning the Rapid world title,' she added. She was top of the charts at the Monaco Grand Prix too, ringing in 2025. At 38, stringing together wins is not as breezy or stomping as it used to be. But the Rapid world title ignited a spark that had been dulling, as her confidence slowly transferred to the longer format. She wasn't unaware of the fading light, the flagging motivation, which is why she saw each win over younger, snappier opponents as a stride forward in rediscovering her verve, finding her groove. 'After the second rapid title, I felt motivated to play again. Chess wasn't same as when I was younger, it was challenging. But I've started feeling the buzz especially when I beat talented youngsters, some 15 – 20 years younger than me,' she says. 'It feels reassuring to get those wins,' she stresses. No one would've faulted her had she moved on to a calmer life, having achieved more than most women in the world have in chess. But the claws had stayed sharp with the world title missing, though there's no hint of desperation of time and opportunities passing her by. 'I'm not really bothered about qualification for Candidates. I'll follow other Grand Prix results like normally, but no stress. Will focus on my tournaments in Norway and USA.' All this last week, she has played with the sort of free spirit of someone not trying to prove any point. Humpy was always an attacking player, not playing unduly safe, but her first classical win against Zhu, and rearguard riposte in the draw against Alina Kashlinskya was the mark of someone whose mind was composed and not wavering under deadline pressure. She converted a very small advantage against Zhu into a win and kept resisting doggedly against Alina, drawing out a blunder in an attritional draw. 'It was a good tournament in Pune except the poor game yesterday (Tuesday). That was a complete mistake,' she would say, though she had held her ground and reckoned fortune favoured her courage. The push to qualify for Candidates first – she still can in multiple ways – and the world title, is a little more emotive for the Indian chess fraternity as the upcoming women's World Championship cycle is viewed similar to how Sachin Tendulkar chased the 50 over World Cup in 2011. Pune's GM Abhijeet Kunte who has followed Humpy's career for years says she deserves a strong support system – a complete team, comparable to what the Chinese WGMs get, once she makes the Candidates cut. 'She's playing really well, relaxed and confident, with no desperation. But for the world title push, she should form a complete team – coach and seconds ofcourse but also an elite level mentor who addresses the long term problems that have kept her from winning. She is extremely well motivated, but we need to put together a crack team for her extending all support to help her fight,' he says. Humpy hasn't spoken particularly about who her previous teams have been, in earlier title pursuits. But Pune could be a start of a renewed impetus as she finds glee and grit in the classical format. Mobbed by fans in hundreds who hiked up to a private club property, all waiting for the old-fashioned autographs on posters and cutouts with her pictures as well as chess sets, Humpy knows she has a huge following rooting for her. The online buzz peaked as she raced to win her 7th point. She's feeling groovy about the classical gig too – she doesn't need the world title badly, but sitting back relaxed and coolly calculating, she could be in the best frame of mind to go after it too.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Koneru Humpy wins FIDE Women's Grand Prix chess meet
Koneru Humpy (Image credit: X) Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy clinched the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 (Pune leg) title on Wednesday, edging out China's Zhu Jiner on superior tie-breaks after both players finished with identical scores. Humpy secured victory in her final round by defeating Bulgaria's Nurgyul Salimova, ending the tournament with seven points. Zhu Jiner also notched up a win against Russia's Polina Shuvalova in her last game to match Humpy's tally. 'Humpy Koneru and Zhu Jiner both won their final round games and ended the FIDE Women's Grand Prix tied for first, but it's Humpy who takes the top spot thanks to superior tiebreaks!' FIDE posted on 'X'. The day before, Humpy and Zhu were tied at six points each after the penultimate round. Humpy managed to hold Alina Kashlinskaya to a draw in a tense game, while Zhu defeated India's Divya Deshmukh in a sharp tactical contest. In other final-round results, India's R Vaishali was held to a draw by Georgia's Salome Melia, while Divya Deshmukh also drew her game against Poland's top-ranked player Alina Kashlinskaya. Dronavalli Harika shared the point with Mongolia's Munguntuul Batkhuyag in her final round clash. Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India , including match schedules , team squads , points table and IPL live score for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Don't miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap .
The Hindu
23-04-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Humpy edges Zhu on tie-break to claim the fifth leg
They began as the top two seeds, and they finished as the top two. Koneru Humpy and Zhu Jiner ended with seven points each after the ninth and final round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix at Amanora-The Fern on Wednesday. But Humpy proved more equal, as she emerged champion of the fifth leg of the series on account of a better tie-break score than the second-seeded Chinese. The prize-money and the Grand Prix points are shared though in case of a tie. This was the last event for Humpy (a player gets to play three), and she has finished her campaign with 279.17 points. She is second in the table at the moment, behind the leader, Russia's Aleksandra Goryachkina (308.34), but the standings could change with players like Zhu having one more event to play. The final battles in Pune are over—and what a finish! 🔥 🇮🇳 Humpy Koneru and 🇨🇳 Zhu Jiner both won their final round games and ended the FIDE Women's Grand Prix tied for first, but it's Humpy who takes the top spot thanks to superior tiebreaks! 🏆👏 Here's how the last round… — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 23, 2025 The two-best placed women will qualify for the Candidates, the qualifying event for the World championship. On the final day here, Humpy, with white pieces, overcame Nurgyul Salimova in 84 moves of Slav Defence. The Bulgarian had been in trouble long before that, but she fought on until Humpy's two passed pawns in the knight ending threatened checkmate. It was a long game for Zhu too; she took 76 moves to outwit Polina Shuvalova of Russia. The third place went to Divya Deshmukh, giving some joy to the host State of Maharashtra. The results (final round): R. Vaishali drew with Salome Melia (Geo); Koneru Humpy bt Nurgyul Salimova (Bul); Divya Deshmukh drew with Alina Kashlinskaya (Pol); Polina Shuvalova (Rus) lost to Zhu Jiner (Chn); D. Harika drew with Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mgl). The standings: 1-2. Humpy and Zhu 7 points; 3. Divya 5.5; 4-5. Harika and Shuvalova and 4.5; 6. Vaishali 4; 7. Salimova 3.5; 8-10. Melia, Kashlinskaya and Batkhuyag 3.
News18
23-04-2025
- Sport
- News18
Koneru Humpy, Zhu Jiner Take Joint-Lead Ahead Of Final Day Of FIDE Women's Grand Prix
Koneru Humpy and Zhu Jiner jointly lead the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024-25 (Pune leg) chess meet with 6 points each after the 8th and penultimate round here on Tuesday. Humpy survived a scare to hold Alina Kashlinskaya to a draw, while Jiner defeated India's Divya Deshmukh in a tactical battle. Despite the loss, Divya remains in third place with 5 points.
