The final was an all-Indian affair between World No 5 Koneru Humpy and World No 18 Divya Deshmukh after both had the better of Chinese opponents, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi, in the semifinals.
FIDE Women's Chess World Cup: Divya Deshmukh has clinched the FIDE Women’s World Cup title after defeating Koneru Humpy in a thrilling tiebreak decider in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday, July 28. At just 19, she made history as the first Indian woman to win a world championship title, while also earning the prestigious Grandmaster title. The final was an all-Indian affair between World No 5 Koneru Humpy and World No 18 Divya Deshmukh after both had the better of Chinese opponents, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi, in the semifinals.
After the two-game classical match ended with shared points, the match went into tiebreaks. The first match of tiebreak ended with a draw, and the title was decided in the second match of the tiebreak. Following the match, Divya broke down into tears and hugged her mother. “I need time to process it [the win]. I think it is is fate that I got the grandmaster title this way. There's a lot more to achieve. I hope this is just the beginning,” she said in the post-match interview.
Indian Chess legend Viswanathan Anand said that the trophy coming to India either way was an extra bonus. “Dramatic, Humpy just collapsed and it was totally self-inflicted. This is one of the situations where the nerves get better of you and there's nothing you can do,” he added. Both Divya and Humpy have qualified for the next Candidates Tournament.
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After the first two classical matches, Divya had said that the draw felt like a loss. Koneru Humpy had also accepted that Divya was the better of the two players. The victory of the 19-year-old feels like the passing of a baton that was long-held safely by the 38-year-old. Humpy was the first Indian woman to become a grandmaster and the youngest woman in the world to do so at 15 years of age, surpassing Judit Polgar’s record by three months. Divya was crowned the World Junior Chess Champion in the girls section in 2024 and had played a pivotal role in securing gold for the Indian team at the recent Chess Olympiad in Budapest. She had also clinched the individual gold.
