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Divya Deshmukh
Indian chess player (born 2005) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Divya Deshmukh (born 9 December 2005) is an Indian chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster and International Master.[2] She is a three-time gold medalist at the Olympiad. Deshmukh has also won multiple golds at the Asian Championship, the World Junior Championship as well as the World Youth Championship.[3]
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Early life
Deshmukh was born in Nagpur in a Marathi family.[4] Her parents, Jitendra Deshmukh and Namratha Deshmukh, are doctors.[5] She received her early education from Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir.[6]
Career
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Deshmukh became India's 21st woman chess Grandmaster in 2021.[4] She won the 2022 Women's Indian Chess Championship.[7] She also won an individual bronze medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. She was also part of the gold medal-winning FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 team.[8][9] As of December 2024, she is the 2nd ranked woman chess player in India.[10]
In 2023, in Almaty she won the Asian Women's Chess Championship.[11] She then finished first in the women's rapid section of the Tata Steel India Chess Tournament, despite being the bottom seed. At the tournament, she defeated Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agrawal, Koneru Humpy, Savitha Shri B, Irina Krush, and Nino Batsiashvili, drew against Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun and Anna Ushenina, and suffered her only loss to Polina Shuvalova.[12]
In May 2024, Deshmukh was the Sharjah Challengers champion, a large open tournament win that earned her a spot in the Sharjah Masters the following year.[13] In June, she became 2024 FIDE World U20 Girls Chess Champion. She became the fourth Indian to win the World Junior Girls' title after Koneru Humpy in 2001, Harika Dronavalli in 2008, and Soumya Swaminathan in 2009.[3] Needing a win in the final round, she defeated Bulgaria’s third seed Beloslava Krasteva in a five-hour marathon battle to secure 10 points out of a possible 11 and won the gold.[5]
In September 2024, she won the team gold as well as the individual gold medals at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024.[14]
2025 World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships
On 19 June 2025, Divya Deshmukh, the reigning World Junior No. 1 and International Master from Nagpur, delivered a standout performance at the 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Team Chess Championships held in London. Representing Hexamind Chess Club in the blitz semifinals, she defeated women’s world No. 1 Hou Yifan in a 74-move rook-vs-bishop endgame, marking her first-ever victory over the Chinese grandmaster.
Deshmukh’s triumph over Hou was one of six wins across eight blitz games, earning her a performance rating of 2606 and contributing significantly to Hexamind’s bronze medal finish in the blitz event. Earlier in the tournament, she had also been instrumental in Hexamind’s silver medal performance in the rapid section, scoring 8 out of 12 points (five wins, six draws, one loss) with a performance rating of 2420. Her efforts were further recognized with an individual bronze medal on board six.
The win over Hou Yifan drew national attention and accolades. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Deshmukh for her "grit and determination," describing her as an inspiration for young chess players. Deshmukh, in turn, credited her performance to the encouragement of her teammates and the Prime Minister’s motivational message.[15]
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References
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