Divya Deshmukh: The Last-Minute Sub Who Won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid
As India’s exports continue to reflect the nation’s wealth of talent on the global arena, the moment seems to be right for one prodigy after another to emerge from India in the age-old game of chess.
A new teenage wunderkind has emerged in the shape of Woman Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, after boy wonder Praggnanandha’s impressive performance in the FIDE World Cup 2023, when he advanced to the final before losing at the last hurdle.
Deshmukh, a 17-year-old prodigy from Nagpur, achieved the milestone of being the first female grandmaster in 2021 at the early age of 15, and since then, things have only been better.
Her success is undoubtedly due to a solid foundation and her mental toughness, as is true in any area.
The adolescent wonder has seen remarkable success recently, winning the gold medal in the Chess Olympiad in 2022 and the championship at the Indian Chess Championships in 2022.
Additionally, she displayed her talent in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad in the year 202, when she was a member of the gold-winning team.
She enhanced her already-vibrant reputation by winning the Asian Women’s Chess Championships in Almaty this year. The fact that the Nagpur girl is presently rated 7th among all female players in the country tells everything about how talented she is.
Her greatest rating, which she had not yet reached, was 2431 in the year 2019, according to her FIDE ranking as of August 2023, which was 2372.
Her most recent achievement was her victory at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament, where she defeated legendary Indian Koneru Humpy with black pieces and tied draws with Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun to move ahead of Wenjun with 7 points in the rapid format.
Because R Vaishali, Praggnanandha’s sister, withdrew from the tournament at the last minute, the 17-year-old’s victory is all the more impressive.
The Maharashtrian kid is bound for big things, if the early indications are any indication at a time when Indian chess seems to be on the rise.
