MH Governor Honours Divya Deshmukh for Winning Women's Chess World Cup & Becoming Grandmaster

By: WE staff | Monday, 4 August 2025

• Divya Deshmukh was awarded by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan in a special ceremony held at Nagpur's Raj Bhavan on Sunday, August 4
• The ceremony was organized to commemorate Divya's record win in the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 final—a world record in chess

Divya Deshmukh was awarded by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan at a function in Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on Sunday, August 4, for her exceptional work in chess. Divya, 19, recently shattered history after winning the final of FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 and becoming India's 88th Grandmaster.

A day before that, on Saturday, she was also honored by the Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai. Divya talked about the special meeting and described her joy and gratitude, stating, "I am really happy and honoured that the Chief Justice of India came to our house. I got to know we share a family connection. He made me feel very welcome and congratulated me."

The final was a hard battle, with some key blunders in the second rapid game costly to Koneru. A pawn loss in rook endgame gained Divya the momentum swing, and Koneru resigned on move 75. Although she lost some opportunities in the early stages to take advantage of her opponent's errors, Divya eventually capitalized on the moment when Koneru committed a fatal error on move 69 by capturing the f-pawn. Divya then proceeded with precise moves and forced Koneru to resign after six more moves.

Emotional, Divya wept uncontrollably as the size of her victory dawned on her. She had a very touching moment with her mother later, hugging her after the historic victory.