PM Narendra Modi lauds Divya Deshmukh after 19-year-old defeats Koneru Humpy to win FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup

The final began with two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday, both ended in draws. The first Rapid game ended in a draw and in the next, Divya bagged a stunning win with the Black pieces to clinch the title.

Reacting to the win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X and hauled both players for a historic all-Indian final. He wrote, “A historic final featuring two outstanding Indian chess players!”

“Proud of the young Divya Deshmukh on becoming FIDE Women’s World Chess Champion 2025. Congratulations to her for this remarkable feat, which will inspire several youngsters. Koneru Humpy has also displayed immense prowess throughout the championship. Best wishes to both players for their future endeavours”, he further added.

Divya put Humpy under immense pressure in the opening tie-breaker and then went for the kill in the return fixture. In return game, Humpy lost control in the 40th move, as she tried to attack Divya through a pawn sacrifice. Then she ran out of time and blundered in the endgame again, leading to a theoretical win position for Divya.

In the opening tie-breaker, Divya got an isolated Queen pawn middle game from the Petroff defence and then sacrificed her pawn to give her opponent a strong chance. But then Humpy’s time was running out, and soon the game ended in a draw.

Even Indian President Droupadi Murmu joined the bandwagon and congratulated Divya for her win. She wrote on X, “My heartiest congratulations to Divya Deshmukh who has become the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup, that too, at a very young age of nineteen. Koneru Humpy being the runner up, both the finalists of the chess world championship were from India. This underlines the abundance of talent in our country, especially among women.”