Media365
Legendary chess players famously known as the Polgar sisters — Susan and Judit — hailed 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh for winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup.She defeated seasoned compatriot Koneru Humpy in a tie-break.After the drawn games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive, as Humpy lost the battle of nerves. Except for the World Cup and the Women’s World Championship, Humpy has won everything under the sun, but as fate would have it, the World Cup title eluded her again.Deshmukh showed steely resolve on Monday, and the bonus for her determination was the Grandmaster title — reserved for the champion of this event.Deshmukh is now the fourth Indian woman player to achieve the GM feat after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and R. Vaishali.Humpy, 38, became a Grandmaster in 2002, and Divya was born in 2005.Susan Polgar called Divya a star.“A star is born & a newly crowned Grandmaster!IM Divya Deshmukh 🇮🇳 defeated GM Humpy Koneru in the tiebreaks to win the 2025 Women’s World Cup! What a magnificent feat for this talented and mentally tough young lady!With this victory, she is now the 44th woman to hold the Grandmaster title! Double congratulations!!” she wrote on X.Judit lauded Divya and at the same time showered praise on “Indian chess.”“Congrats to @DivyaDeshmukh05, who has clinched the 2025 Women’s Chess World Cup title, defeating her compatriot Koneru Humpy in a tense tiebreak. Indian chess is just unbelievable! But do not forget: it has reasons,” she wrote on X.An emotional Deshmukh couldn’t hold back her tears following the victory against an opponent twice her age.“I need time to process it (the win). I think it was fate, me getting the Grandmaster title this way because before this (tournament), I didn’t even have one (GM) norm, and now I am the Grandmaster,” said Divya.
