Who is Divya Deshmukh? Five interesting facts to know about Indian chess history-maker

Divya Deshmukh becomes the first Indian to reach the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup 2025 final.

At just 19 years old, International Master Divya Deshmukh is making waves in the world of chess. On Wednesday, July 23, she became the first Indian woman to reach the final of the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup. Since then, she has been trending across the internet.

Born in 2005 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, Divya comes from a family of doctors. The way she rose to the top in the beautiful game of chess is impressive. In an interview with News9 last year, Divya had spoken about how difficult things were in the beginning.

She mentioned how challenging it is to chase a dream in chess without sponsors, as the sport requires substantial financial backing, particularly for travel and tournaments. So what did she do? She just kept winning. Those prize amounts became her tickets to international tournaments.

Today, Divya is both a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and an International Master (IM). She’s already a three-time gold medalist at the Chess Olympiad and has also won titles at the Asian Championship, World Youth Championship, and World Junior Championship. However, the first time she lifted a trophy was at just 7 years old, when she won the National Under-7 Championship in 2012.

At just 15 years old, she became India’s 21st Woman Grandmaster in 2021. But even before that, she became a national pride by being a part of India’s gold-winning team at the FIDE Online Olympiad in 2020.

In 2022, she won the Women’s Indian Chess Championship and followed it up with a bronze medal at the Chess Olympiad. Two years later, she turned that to gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad. She also claimed the Asian Women’s Championship title in 2023.

In June 2024, Divya etched her name into history by winning the FIDE World U20 Girls Chess Championship, becoming only the fourth Indian to do so, after Koneru Humpy (2001), Harika Dronavalli (2008), and Soumya Swaminathan (2009).

At the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025, she’s on an unforgettable run already. After thrashing fellow Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the rapid tiebreaks in the quarterfinal, she became only the second Indian to reach the semis. Divya then defeated former world champion Tan Zhongyi to enter the final, a first for any Indian woman.

Interesting facts about Divya Deshmukh-

First Indian to reach FIDE Women’s World Cup final:

With her incredible run at the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025, Divya Deshmukh first became only the second Indian woman, after Koneru Humpy, to reach the semi-finals. Then she made history by becoming the first-ever Indian to reach the final of the tournament.

Defeats World No. 1 Hou Yifan in Blitz

The IM Divya Deshmukh’s journey in London at the World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championship was nothing short of exemplary. The 19-year-old represented Hexamind Chess Club and, in the blitz semifinals, defeated women’s world No. 1 Hou Yifan in a 74-move rook vs bishop endgame.

The unbeaten FIDE World U20 Girls Champion

Another fact about Divya Deshmukh is that she’s currently the reigning World Junior No. 1 among women in chess. Winning the FIDE World Junior Girls Championship 2024 is a big deal in itself, but what is even more interesting is that she remained undefeated throughout the tournament, scoring 10 out of 11 points.

Double gold at 2024 Chess Olympiad

After making everyone stunned from being the bottom seed to winning the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament in 2024, Divya created waves at the 2024 Chess Olympiad, grabbing not just one but two gold medal-winning teams as well as the individual events.

Starting chess at age 5

The story of Divya Deshmukh didn’t start like a fairytale. She didn’t even like chess at first. As a 5-year-old, she wanted to play badminton like her older sister, but was too young to join in.

Feeling left out, her parents introduced her to chess instead. She initially hated going to the academy, and her parents had to bribe her with chocolates and gifts to get her there. But soon enough, she found her love for the game, and the rest is history.

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