Queen's Gambit

2025 isn’t the first time that Divya Deshmukh has struck gold, quite literally. The 20-year-old had already announced herself on the global stage by winning two gold medals in the 2024 Chess Olympiad, the most prestigious team event in the sport. But it is her run at the FIDE World Cup—where she beat Koneru Humpy, India’s first woman Grandmaster (GM), to become the first Indian to win the title—that has made Deshmukh a household name.

- -Kathakali Chanda

Divya Deshmukh (20)

Chess player

“China hadn’t sent a host of their top players in the Olympiad, but most of them were competing in the World Cup. Divya had to overcome multiple hurdles and challenges before she could win the title. That’s what makes this victory so special,” says Pravin Thipsay, India’s third GM after Viswanathan Anand and Dibyendu Barua.

En route to the final of the much-vaunted tournament, Deshmukh defeated former World Champion and Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi in the semis, while she navigated a tense rapid format tiebreaker to defeat Humpy, a player many years her senior, in the final. With her victory, she also became a GM, only the fourth Indian woman to achieve the highest title in the sport.