Nineteen-year-old Divya Deshmukh scripted history on Monday registering a tie-break win over veteran Koneru Humpy in the FIDE Women’s World Cup at Batumi, Georgia. The teenager from Nagpur not only earned her biggest career title but also the prestigious Grandmaster title, which looked improbable when she began the tournament.
After the two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday ended in draws, the match headed into tie-breaks. Having drawn the two classical games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive, as Humpy became anxious.
The victory makes Divya the 88th Grandmaster of the country and the fourth Indian woman player to achieve the GM feat after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R. Vaishali.
The Divya vs Humpy finale was a battle of generations with the 19-year-old Divya being just half the age of veteran Humpy, who is India’s first woman to become a grandmaster. Humpy, 38, became a Grandmaster in 2002 and Divya was only born in 2005.
Divya showed steely resolve on Monday, and the bonus for the determination was the Grandmaster title, reserved for the champion of this event.
This post was last modified on 28 July 2025 5:19 pm
Satya & Ritesh Rana delivered two blockbusters earlier with the ‘Mathu Vadalara’ series in 2019…
A shocking crime in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr where three people were killed at a gym…
The Centre is preparing an additional ₹8,097 crore financial assistance package for the Visakhapatnam Steel…
Prices of 19 kg commercial LPG cylinders have been hiked by Rs 993, effective from…
Powerpeta directed by Krishna Chaitanya which was initially touted for Nithin and Vishwak Sen finally…
A married Indian-origin banker, charged his senior colleague at JP Morgan Chase in New York…