Chess Prodigy Divya Deshmukh Hailed as India's Answer to MS Dhoni After World Cup Victory

India's Divya Deshmukh, a 19-year-old chess sensation, has emerged victorious at the FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. She secured the title after a thrilling final against fellow Indian competitor, the seasoned Koneru Humpy, decided by tie-breakers.

Divya Deshmukh celebrates her World Cup victory.

Srinath Narayanan, Deshmukh's former coach, lauded her exceptional talent and remarkable composure under pressure. He drew parallels between her ability to thrive in critical moments and that of legendary Indian cricketer MS Dhoni.

Deshmukh's triumph marks her as India's 88th Grandmaster and the fourth Indian woman to achieve this coveted title. Her victory came against the experienced Humpy, a dominant figure in Indian women's chess for over two decades, boasting titles such as the World Rapid Championship and Asian Games gold medals.

"She's quite an aggressive player. But with time, Divya has become more all-round, more versatile. I think she's equally good across all the different formats... Classical, Rapid and Blitz," Srinath said in an interview.

"And her strength is, I think, turning up in those big moments, crunch situations. Like how Mahendra Singh Dhoni used to win the matches in the last over. I saw something similar in Divya in those last-round situations or situations where everything was hanging in the high-pressure moments. She used to perform incredibly well under pressure in important matches."

Srinath, who coached Divya until 2020, recalled their first meeting at the airport in 2016 when the team was en route to Turkey for the World U-16 Olympiad.

"So, it (association) started around 2018. We met at the World Under-16 Olympiad. The team was going to Turkey. I was the coach of the team and I met her for the first time at the airport. She was incredibly talented. And she also had a certain kind of ability to win these big games and tournaments. So, in the very first tournament that I coached her, she won a very important game in the last round against Iran," Srinath shared, highlighting the Nagpur-based player's early potential.

Divya's impressive track record includes:

• Three gold medals at the Olympiad
• Multiple gold medals at the Asian Championship
• World Junior Championship
• World Youth Championship

"She was, I think, way more talented than most of the girls. She showed that talent during the World U-16 Olympiad in 2018. After that, during the 2020 Online Olympiad, Divya was instrumental in our win over China, which was a very important game. And she was one of the winners. Post that, in the same tournament, she was also winning in the final against Russia. Although the match was stopped halfway due to global internet outage and both the teams shared the gold, Divya was clearly one with the most promising position for us in that match."

Between 2020 and 2022, Divya faced a period of slowed progress in her chess career due to the global pandemic.

"She, I think, constantly kept winning big tournaments, big events. If anything, she only slowed down around 2020 to 2022 when the pandemic happened. And she wouldn't play in a lot of tournaments. So she took some time off and focused on her studies and started catching up with all those things."

With her qualification for the Candidates Tournament, Srinath is confident that Divya possesses the potential to become a world champion. Her recent victory in the Women's World Cup against established players underscores her exceptional talent and unwavering determination in the sport.