FIDE Grand Swiss Chess: After World Cup history, Divya Deshmukh set to push boundaries in Samarkand

Fresh from her odd-defying historic FIDE Women’s World Cup victory, Divya Deshmukh is set to push the envelope further by taking part in the Open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in Samarkand, which kicks off on Thursday. Divya and Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina are the only female players to opt for the Open section instead of the Women’s Grand Swiss.

A total of 116 players will take part in the Open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, including world champion D Gukesh and other top players like Indian chess star R Praggnanandhaa, Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Levon Aronian.

Divya Deshmukh set to push the envelope at Grand Swiss

Eighteen players in the Open section have an Elo rating of above 2700, while 74 Grandmasters are rated between 2600–2699. India’s Divya pales in comparison with a rating of 2478, having become a Grandmaster not only recently, after winning the Women’s Chess World Cup against compatriot Koneru Humpy in July.

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While it’s rare for Divya or a female player to take part in the Open section of a prestigious tournament like the Grand Swiss, what is life without taking a risk? The 19-year-old from Nagpur understands it very well that only good competition can improve her skills.

In an exclusive interview with us recently, Divya spoke about how she plans to set an example for the young girls.

“I think the unfortunate thing is that lesser women play chess, so it’s a pity that since lesser women play, the lesser they reach the top. So I’m hoping this win encourages a lot of young girls, lot of kids and especially young girls, to take up chess and hopefully we can see much stronger Indian chess in the next few years,” Divya told Firstpost.

And it’s not the first time Divya will be taking such a big step. She was part of the mixed roster at the Tata Steel Challengers at Wijk aan Zee and Prague Challengers earlier in 2025. While she lost 13 out of the 22 matches in the Netherlands and Prague, one can say it played a role in her becoming the Women’s Chess World Cup winner, where she was the 15th seed.

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During the mixed events, she also notched a few wins over Grandmasters like Ediz Gurel in Wijk aan Zee and Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis at Prague.

If anything, it goes to show that while Divya is set to face a daunting task against some of the world’s best in Uzbekistan, she has what it takes to spring a few surprises.

The Nagpur resident will start her FIDE Grand Swiss 205 campaign with a Round 1 match against compatriot Abhimanyu Puranik on Thursday. Puranik was part of Divyua’s coaching team during the victorious World Cup tournament.