Divya Deshmukh becomes third women’s world cup champion, defeats GMKoneru Humpy

Divya Deshmukh, the 19-year-old International Master from Nagpur, Maharashtra, etched her name into
chess history by defeating Grandmaster Humpy Koneru 1.5–0.5 in the tiebreaks to win the “ Fédération
Internationale des Échecs” (FIDE)’s Women’s World Cup Tournament held in in Batumi, Georgia(USA).
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She now follows in the footsteps of GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2021) and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina
(2023) as the third-ever winner of this prestigious title.
Divya Deshmukh became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup title after
defeating fellow Indian Koneru Humpy in the final, in Batumi, Georgia. The match lasted for three days
and was decided through tiebreaks, with Divya emerging victorious with a score of 2.5 -1.5.
With this achievement, Divya joined Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and R Vaishali as the fourth
Indian woman to become a Grandmaster. This victory also made her the 88th person overall to reach this
milestone.
With this remarkable win, Divya Deshmukh is now not only the 2025 Women’s World Cup Champion,
but also one of the most exciting young stars in the world of chess. Divya also qualifies for the 2026
Candidates Tournament, alongside the second and third-place finishers— GM Humpy Koneru and former
Women’s World Champion Tan Zhongyi.

With this triumph, Divya not only secures the USD 50,000 first prize, but also automatically earns the
Grandmaster (GM) title—the highest title in chess. In doing so, she becomes one of the very few players
in history to achieve it by winning a major FIDE event rather than collecting the usual three GM norms
and 2500 rating.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich was on hand to greet both finalists before the round, wishing them
the best of luck in the decisive tiebreak.
In the two 15+10 rapid tiebreak games, Divya showed both resilience and composure. After missing a
golden opportunity in the first game, which ended in a draw, she brought elite-level precision to the
second. There, she equalised comfortably as Black, then seized control as Humpy slipped under time
pressure—clinching the crown in emphatic fashion.
Divya opened with 1.e4, and in a surprise deviation from her usual 2…Nc6 systems, Humpy Koneru
opted for the Petroff Defence (2…Nf6)—a line she had largely set aside in favor of the ultra-solid Berlin
since late 2023.