Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, who has also qualified for the Women's Candidates, has opted out of the women's section to compete with the best in business.
While only one place seems assured for the Indians in the men's section, there are already three in the women's category who have made it to the Candidates.
Speaking to reporters, the CJI said his father and late KG Deshmukh were very close friends.
Slowly but surely emerging as one of India's key players, International Master Divya Deshmukh stunned higher-ranked compatriot Harika Dronavalli 2-0 in the tiebreaks to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia.
India's Narayanan, Diptayan, Aronyak advance to second round
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy held China's Tingjie Lei to a comfortable draw with black pieces, while Divya Deshmukh's solid defence frustrated former women's world champion Zhongyi Tan in the first game of the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinals in Batumi, Georgia, on Tuesday.
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.
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.
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.
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".
International Master Divya Deshmukh, who is waiting to become a Grandmaster, had a tough day in office as she was outplayed by Zhu Jiner of China in the return game of the pre-quarterfinals in the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Thursday.
She has a current rating of 1551.
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.
Sachin Tendulkar marvelled at India's rise in newer disciplines, while Abhinav Bindra paid tribute to all those who "silently carry the athletes forward" as the two icons offered their views on India's sporting growth on National Sports Day.
Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh made a huge stride forward, defeating second seed Jiner Zhu of China in the first game of the pre-quarterfinals of the FIDE World Women's Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
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.
FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
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.
Defending champion and Grandmaster R Vaishali jumped into sole lead in the women's section
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.
The Indian women chess masters will continue to keep the country's flag flying at the on-going FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 at Batumi, Georgia.
While Vantika, Harika and Vaishali have an uphill task in the first set of tie-break games, they can still make it to the round of 16.
The tie-breaker, which will be a series of shorter-duration games, will be played on Monday to determine the winner.
International Master Divya Deshmukh stormed into the final, defeating former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China in the second game of the semifinals and winning the mini-match 1.5-0.5 in the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
'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.'
R Vaishali also made it to the next round, defeating Ouellet Maili-Jade of Canada in another Indian victory of the day while Divya Deshmukh ousted Kesaria Mgeladze of Georgia.
Grandmaster Nihal Sarin played out a quick and effortless draw with Matthias Bluebaum of Germany to share the lead with the German on six points after the end of the eighth round of FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday.
Abundantly talented but more significantly, incredibly cool in crunch situations, that's how India's 88th Grandmaster and World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh was described by her formative coach Srinath Narayanan, who feels the 19-year-old chess wizard's composure is comparable only to cricket great Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Vaishali knew she had to win to remain in contention and her approach right from the start was in sync with the requirement of the tournament situation.
Vantika Agrawal humbled former World champion Anna Ushenina in the second round of FIDE Women's World Chess Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday.
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.
Looking to assert his supremacy across formats, reigning world champion D Gukesh of India began his campaign in the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a crushing victory over France's Etienne Bacrot in the first round.
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin's hopes of making to the Candidates tournament suffered a setback as he lost to Alireza Firouzja of France in the ninth round of the FIDE Grand Swiss, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Saturday.
Humpy, Jiner share lead at Pune leg Women's GP
Praggnanandhaa takes on a strong field at Grand Swiss, eyes Candidates berth
Apart from Tan, top seed Tingjie Lei of China also made it to the semifinals at the expense of Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
On pure experience of playing big games, Humpy goes in the final as the favourite against compatriot Deshmukh.
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.
With Vantika's hard-earned victory there are still five Indians left in the last 32 stage of this US$691,250 prize money event with an additional bonus of making it to the Women's candidates' tournament slated in 2026 for the top three finishers.
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