Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh, just 19 years old, has made the country proud by winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Georgia. She defeated senior Indian player Koneru Humpy in an intense final match.
In the second rapid tiebreak round, Humpy made some big mistakes due to time pressure. Divya remained calm, took her chances smartly, and won the match.
This victory made Divya not only the FIDE Women’s World Cup Champion, but also India’s 88th Grandmaster. She’s now the fourth Indian woman to earn this prestigious title, joining top players like Humpy, R. Vaishali, and Harika Dronavalli.
Read more: Historic Win! 19-Year-Old Divya Deshmukh Wins FIDE Women’s World Cup and Becomes a Grandmaster
Usually, becoming a Grandmaster requires meeting certain conditions—like scoring three GM norms and reaching a FIDE rating of 2500. But Divya took a different path. By winning the World Cup, she was automatically awarded the Grandmaster title.
As a reward, Divya will receive $50,000 (around ₹41 lakh). However, there’s a big difference in prize money between the men’s (Open) and women’s tournaments. The winner of the Open section gets $110,000, more than double what the women’s winner gets—even though both events are organized by FIDE.
For comparison, Magnus Carlsen won the 2023 Open World Cup and took home $110,000 after defeating Indian star R Praggnanandhaa.
Also See: R Praggnanandhaa Defeats Magnus Carlsen at Freestyle Chess Tour in Las Vegas
FIDE also has a specific format for these games: each player gets 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, plus 30 seconds extra per move starting from the first move.
Although women can play in the Open section too, most choose not to. For example, Ju Wenjun, the current Women’s World Champion, has a confirmed spot at the next Open World Cup in Goa—but it’s unclear if she will play.
