19-year-old teen Chess sensation Divya Deshmukh was visibly in tears and hugged her mother after creating history by winning the Women's Chess World Cup 2025 on Monday. The teenage prodigy broke down and embraced her mother over her achievement as she became the youngest female player to win the crown.
The match proved to be a classical one as it went down to the wire and eventually resulted in tiebreaks. The first rapid game of the tie-break was a straightforward draw and the second culminated into the same, making it seem like it would end in another stalemate. However, Deshmukh's opponent Koneru Humpy crumbled under time pressure, thereby handing out the advantage to the 19-year-old. Deshmukh took full toll and went on to become the 88th Chess grandmaster.
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Notably, Deshmukh had been the underdog coming into the final despite being an international master as her opponent Humpy had become the World Rapid Champion for the second time in her career in December 2024. Humpy is still ranked No.5 in the world, while Deshmukh is No.18. The 19-year-old had been crowned as the world junior champion in the girls' category last year.
"It was fate" - Divya Deshmukh after winning the Chess World Cup
An emotional Divya Deshmukh reacted to their win by saying the below, as quoted by IANS:
"It was fate. Before the tournament, I was thinking that I could maybe earn a Grandmaster norm here. And at the end, I became a Grandmaster."
The Nagpur-born teenager had also played a crucial role in India's golden run during the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, clinching a gold in the event. She is also the fourth Indian woman to win the Chess World Cup title and it was the first time two Indians competed for the crown.
