Vishy Anand hails Divya Deshmukh’s historic win, consoles 'great champion' Koneru Humpy

Divya Deshmukh, Viswanathan Anand (Photo: ChessBase India/AFP)

Divya Deshmukh achieved the most significant triumph of her young but promising career by winning the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, defeating Koneru Humpy in a tense tie-break finale on Monday. The 19-year-old from Nagpur not only claimed one of the most prestigious titles in women's chess but also earned the Grandmaster title in the process.

Overcome with emotion after her victory, Deshmukh broke down in tears and embraced her mother following the final. "I need time to process it (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," she said.

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand hailed the teenager's win and called it a 'great celebration of Indian chess'. "Congratulations to @Divyadeshmukh05 on winning the World Cup. Becoming GM and earning a spot in the Candidates. Amazing battle of nerves. @humpy_koneru played a very good event and showed a commendable fighting spirit. The great champion she is! It was a great celebration of Indian chess, particularly Women's chess," Anand wrote on X.

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, also extended her congratulations on X. "Koneru Humpy being the runner up, both the finalists of the chess world championship were from India. This underlines the abundance of talent in our country, especially among women. I convey my deep appreciation to Koneru Humpy for sustaining excellence throughout her illustrious career. I am sure that both these women champions will continue to bring greater glories and inspire our youth," she wrote.

After the two classical games over the weekend ended in draws, the match was decided in rapid tie-breaks. Divya displayed tremendous composure and strategic depth under pressure. In the first rapid game, she employed the Petroff Defense, leading to an isolated queen pawn structure. Despite sacrificing a pawn, she steered the game into an equal endgame, which concluded in a balanced draw.

In the second tie-break game, Humpy opened with the Catalan, but Divya was exceptionally well-prepared and neutralised the attack swiftly. Humpy's early pawn sacrifice led to a complex queen-and-rook endgame. However, it was on the 40th move, under severe time pressure, that Humpy faltered with a risky pawn push. Though Divya missed an immediate win, she maintained her advantage, and a blunder by Humpy in the endgame sealed her fate.

With this win, Divya becomes the 88th Grandmaster from India and only the fourth Indian woman to achieve this feat, joining the ranks of Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and R Vaishali.