Divya Deshmukh has been awarded a wild card for the FIDE World Cup 2025 following a last-minute withdrawal of one of the participants.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi will take on an in-form Levon Aronian of Armenia, while P Harikrishna will have to tackle giant-killer Jose Eduardo Martinez Alacantara of Mexico in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Cup in Panaji, Goa.
Chennai's Velammal Vidyalaya, the alma mater of the youngest reigning World champion D Gukesh and Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, won the gold medal at the World Schools Team Chess Championship in Virginia, United States.
Divya Deshmukh came to the star-studded FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, as an underdog, hoping to at least win one Grandmaster norm in her journey to become a GM in the future.
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh was welcomed by hundreds of supporters and her family upon her arrival in Nagpur on Wednesday.
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has said she was not under any kind of pressure while playing the FIDE Women's World Cup final against compatriot Koneru Humpy as she had "nothing to lose".
Arjun Erigaisi will start as the favourite against veteran Hungarian Peter Leko, while R Praggnanandhaa faces the inventive Daniil Dubov.
American Abhimanyu Mishra, 16, became the youngest-ever player in the history of chess to beat a reigning World Champion in the classical format.
Grandmasters Raunak Sadhwani and S L Narayanan, India's two best hopes, were held to draws by Daniel Barrish of South Africa and Steven Salas Rojas of Peru in the first game of the opening round of World Chess Cup, in Panjim, on Saturday.
World Junior champion Pranav Venkatesh scored a crushing victory over Grandmaster Alan Pichot of Spain to win the Fujairah Global Superstars chess tournament.
Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna had another good day as they sent veteran Peter Leko of Hungary and Swede Nils Grandelius packing in the fourth-round tiebreaker at the Chess World Cup, in Panaji on Thursday.
'She is now a role model for the upcoming young generation. And I am sure that this victory will definitely motivate and inspire the Indian women, and those who are coming up.'
World champion D Gukesh bowed out of the Chess World Cup, losing the third-round match to Frederik Svane of Germany, while Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa made it to the last-32 stage, in Panjim on Saturday.
India hosts the event from a position of unprecedented strength with a string of titles under its belt.
World Champion D Gukesh went down to world's youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the US in the fifth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss.
R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by the world's youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra of the United States.
Teen prodigy Divya Deshmukh stunned seasoned grandmaster Koneru Humpy in a tense tiebreak to win the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, rewriting Indian chess history at just 19.
Speaking to reporters, the CJI said his father and late KG Deshmukh were very close friends.
'He was like a sponge. He soaked up everything we taught him -- and when it came time to play, he'd squeeze out exactly what was needed on the board during tournaments.'
Grandmaster R Vaishali was so crestfallen following seven straight losses in the Chennai Grandmasters that she had made up her mind to pull out of the Grand Swiss tournament, but family support steered her to the event where she won the title to qualify for the Candidates next year.
In the sixth round Gukesh survived another scare before steering the game to a draw with Firouzja.
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar believes Indian chess is riding a wave of success and predicted a bright future for the sport in the country.
Gukesh had another eventful game in a Queen pawn opening with black pieces.
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has revealed that navigating the pressure in a long, gruelling tournament like the FIDE Women's World Cup title was "quite stressful" but she was determined to go all the way after the tough matches in the lead-up to the title clash against Koneru Humpy in Batumi, Georgia, recently.
Playing white, Ganges Grandmasters defeated Balan Alaskan Knights 11-6 in a battle between the two leaders on the scoreboard.
An online chess platform has partnered with a sports promotion foundation to launch the Indian Chess League and strengthen the sport's ecosystem in the country with a slew of initiatives, including identifying and nurturing the underprivileged young talents.
World Champion D Gukesh suffered his second straight defeat at the FIDE Grand Swiss, losing to Greece's Nikolas Theodorou in the sixth round in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
World champion D Gukesh's struggles continued as he slumped to a third successive defeat, losing to 16-year-old Turkish Grandmaster Ediz Gurel in the seventh round of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.
'Last year, I messed up some good positions against him, I think I did not beat him (in classical) for almost two years now, so finally it's good to get a win.'
In another entertaining contest SG Alpine Warriors defeated Chingari Gulf Titans 11-6.
She has a current rating of 1551.
World number one Carlsen claimed the $250,000 top prize and saw his Team Liquid sneak ahead in the overall championship after his win over Firouzja.
Defending champion and Grandmaster R Vaishali jumped into sole lead in the women's section
A former school principal of newly crowned chess champion from Nagpur Divya Deshmukh remembers her as a student with calm composure who started playing the board game when she was just five and also excelled in studies.
Padmini Rout replicating the result in the women's section to emerge as the top Indian performers in Al Ain, UAE.
Koneru Humpy edged Chinese GM Lei Tingjie in the tiebreaks in the semis to set up an all-Indian final against compatriot Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup.
'Again this year was not going well, I was working very hard but somehow the results were not going my way, this win is very crucial.'
This marks the first time that four players from a single country have reached the quarter-finals of the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup.
Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa finished in sixth and seventh position respectively, even as Grandmaster Levon Aronian of the United States reigned supreme in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
