Divya Deshmukh

About Divya

The youngest contender in the field, but already with a résumé that reads well beyond her years, Divya qualified for the Candidates by dominating the 2025 Women’s World Cup – her most important chess achievement to date. Along with directly achieving the Grandmaster title, her success in Batumi catapulted her to worldwide fame, earning her ESPN India’s Player of the Year award. World Junior Girls’ Champion in 2024 and a key player in India’s gold-medal-winning team at the 2024 Chess Olympiad, Divya has continued to test herself against the very best... A rising star with tactical sharpness, Divya is poised for a potential breakthrough performance. In fact, at the time of writing, she is clocking a very respectable 50% score at the Prague Challengers Tournament, with a +9 rating gain.