How Divya Deshmukh Became the First Indian Woman to Win the World Chess Championship

Divya Deshmukh, the 19‑year‑old from Nagpur, etched her name into history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. She defeated seasoned champion Koneru Humpy in the rapid tiebreaks after two classical games ended in draws. 

In doing so, she also bypassed the traditional norms required for the Grandmaster title, becoming India’s 88th Grandmaster and just the fourth Indian woman ever to earn the highest chess distinction. Her rating leaped to 2478, placing her among the top‑15 women in the world in the August 2025 FIDE rankings. Deshmukh’s rise is a rare blend of radiant confidence and relentless grit. Often described as having an aggressive style paired with a warm, charismatic persona, she embraced each challenge with playful determination. Her journey in the past 13 months includes clinching the World Junior Girls Championship, leading India to gold in the Chess Olympiad, and now crowning it all with a World Cup title. 

The win secures her a place in the 2026 Women’s Candidates Tournament, raising the prospect of a future world championship challenge. Her triumph also draws attention to the broader gender gap in Indian chess: only four Indian women have ever become grandmasters in a nation that counts over 80 male GMs. Her victory has resonated beyond the chessboard. Maharashtra awarded her a ₹3 crore prize and showcased new initiatives to foster female sports talent in the state. National chess champion Gukesh praised her rise as a sign of India’s strength in global chess circles.