Kunte hails ‘fearless and mature’ Divya

Viransh Shah

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Fearlessness, maturity and experimentation are the rare combination to have at this age. That’s how Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte described Divya Deshmukh, the newly crowned champion of the Women’s Chess World Cup 2025.

On Monday, the Nagpur-based youngster, playing the whites, triumphed over compatriot Koneru Humpy in the time-controlled tie-breaker to claim the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. With this landmark victory, the 19-year-old became the 88th Grandmaster from India, only the fourth female chess player to do so after Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R. Vaishali.

Abhijit, who saw Divya for the first time in Nagpur when she was around nine years of age, was convinced that she will make it big someday.

“I was told that she is very good and will be our future star. I also played with her in 2015, and she played very well at that time,” Abhijit told Lokmat Times from Pune.

“What sets her apart is her fearlessness. She’s not afraid to experiment, and she carries a level of maturity in her understanding of the game. That’s rare for someone her age,” he added.

Even before Divya turned up for the title clash with Humpy, she was assured of a place in the Candidates tournament, scheduled for the following year. From entering the World Cup as 15th seed to ultimately winning it speaks a lot, Abhijit emphasised on the teenager’s grit and determination.

He also said that Divya made giant strides by qualifying for the Candidates, just after she won the world junior championship in 2023.

“Her progress has been on an upward trajectory ever since she started. It was impressive to see her performance in the Olympiad and Women’s Grand Prix."

"For the last 3-4 years, I have definitely seen her progress rapidly,” Kunte noted, hoping to see the Indian player break into the top 10 world rankings soon.