Divya Deshmukh wins Women's World Cup 2025 crown, beats Humpy
Divya Deshmukh defeating fellow Indian compatriot Koneru Humpy with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tiebreaks of the FIDE Women’s World Cup Final to become the first-ever Indian champion.
Divya Deshmukh etched her name into chess history, defeating fellow Indian compatriot Koneru Humpy with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tiebreaks of the FIDE Women’s World Cup Final to become the first-ever Indian champion of the esteemed tournament on Monday.
Deshmukh will now receive $50,000 as their prize money on top of the coveted trophy. But most importantly, Divya, who is an IM, will now be promoted to a Grandmaster, as the 19-year-old now becomes the 88th Indian GM.
The Indian players, who were left tied at 1-1 each after the two classical games in the Final, entered the tiebreaks today to decide the ultimate winner.
Both finalists already made history, becoming the first-ever Indians to qualify for the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup, after which both players went on to schedule the first-ever All-Indian final at the event.
Game 1 of the Final was a nail-biting draw, which saw Divya throw away her lead with the white pieces, allowing the veteran Humpy to fight her way back into the game and force the draw. Game 2 on Sunday saw the duo battle it out in yet another fascinating draw, where Humpy seemingly lost the advantage of starting with the white pieces, as the young buck Divya fought her way back to force the veteran to tiebreaks. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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