Chess Olympiad: Divya Deshmukh is a new star born

It’s no mean task to stand out among the galaxy of Indian stars who earned the nation a historic double at the Chess Olympiad on Sunday, 22 September, but the excitement around teenager Divya Deshmukh is palpable.

The 18-year-old, who put up a performance resembling that of Gukesh D. in the Open section, was unstoppable as she scored 9.5 points out of 11 to clinch the individual gold medal on Board 3.

Vantika Agrawal, her teammate, won the individual gold on Board 4, both young women rallying around grandmasters Harika Dronavalli, R. Vaishali and Tania Sachdev to upgrade the colour of India's medal from the bronze of the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai.

A new addition to the women’s team on the strength of her emergence as the junior girls’ world champion in June, Deshmukh joined Vantika and Vaishali to underscore that the future of women’s chess in India is in safe hands once the senior pros sign off.

‘Happiest wearing the Indian flag,’ a beaming Divya, draped in the tricolour, posted on her Instagram handle from the awards ceremony on Sunday, 22 September.

It has certainly been a superlative year for Deshmukh. In June, she soared to the junior world title at GIFT City, Ahmedabad, with 10 points in the 11-round Swiss format. She is only the fourth Indian to win the title and is in good company — she follows Humpy (2001), Harika (2008) and Soumya Swaminathan (2009).

“It is great being part of a golden generation of Indian chess,” she said on that occasion. “So many young players are emerging and much is going right for the game in the country.”

Born into a family of doctors on 9 December 2005 in Nagpur, Deshmukh learnt her first moves on the 64 squares from her father at the age of five. What began as a fun activity soon became her passion: at just seven, she won her first national award.  

The close-knit chess fraternity began acknowledging her as a special talent when Deshmukh bagged the gold at the Asian School Chess Championship and played a key role in India’s historic victory at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 at barely 14 years. The next year, she became India’s 21st woman grandmaster, further cementing her status as a top chess player.

She has kept up the good work in various international competitions since — including the Asian Youth Chess Championship and the Commonwealth Games — and also won the women’s rapid category at the Tata Steel India Chess Championship.

Despite her growing stature as a player, Deshmukh has faced challenges off the chessboard as well.

Only last year, she opened up about the gender bias she encountered at a major chess event.

She also shared on social media how discussions about her appearance often overshadowed evaluation of her game — a post which sparked a conversation about the sexism that women in chess face, with many female players, including veteran Susan Polgar, voicing their support. Polgar too shared her own experiences and highlighted how female players sometimes have to downplay their appearance to avoid attention that becomes a 'distraction'.  

However, with a junior world title and now an individual Olympiad gold in the bag, Divya has arrived in her own right. The FIDE live rankings show her in 11th spot, with a spike in her ratings (2500.5). The only Indian ahead of her is Humpy, who decided to skip the Olympiad but sits pretty in sixth position (with 2530) nevertheless.

As for Deshmukh, surely she will be one of the brightest stars in the Indian chess firmament — and yes, she has time to go supernova yet!