Chess queen, Divya

19-YEAR-OLD DIVYA DESHMUKH STUNS CHESS WORLD BY WINNING THE FIDE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2025, BECOMING FIRST INDIAN WOMAN TO CLAIM THE PRESTIGIOUS TITLE

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Teen-aged Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh became the youngest to win the Women's World Cup here Monday as she outwitted the seasoned Koneru Humpy in the tiebreaker of an all-Indian final which left the youngster emotionally overwhelmed.

The victory not just earned the 19-year-old the prestigious title, but also made her a Grandmaster, something which looked improbable when she started the tournament.

The victory for the Nagpur player came after the two classical games played Saturday and Sunday ended in draws.

After the drawn games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive as Humpy lost the battle of nerves. Except the World Cup and the Women's World Championship, Humpy has won everything under the sun but, and as fate would have it the World Cup title eluded her again.

Deshmukh showed steely resolve Monday, and the bonus for the 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.