Fresh from the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup victory, 20-year-old, youngest Indian Chess grandmaster Divya Deshmukh is all prepared for her next major tournament of this season. Deshmukh is next headed for the 2026 FIDE Candidates 2026 event. The Indian is looking confident entering the tournament as the Women’s World Cup winner and is aiming for a world champion title next.
Divya earned her qualification last July, becoming the first Indian woman to win the World Cup, and also earned her Grandmaster title. She is now India’s 88th grandmaster. Since becoming the world junior girls’ chess champion, the young Indian has built up new confidence in playing in the Candidates.
In a recent interview, she had mentioned, “Winning the Candidates would mean the most and an opportunity to become the world champion. I am sure it will happen sooner or later.”
Last year, Divya was No. 1 in FIDE’s “Girls” list with a rating of 2505. She is No. 41 in India’s rankings and 556 overall.
Divya’s fixture in FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026
Divya will open her campaign against Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk, replacing India’s No. 1 Koneru Humpy, who withdrew from the tournament due to safety concerns. In their three previous meetings, the Indians lost once and had ended in a draw twice against Muzychuk.
In the eight-player event, Divya will make her debut at the age of 20. Among the seven, the Indian will compete against six highly rated players. This is the double round-robin World Championship Candidates chess, which will begin on Sunday, March 29, in Cyprus.
Meanwhile, in the second round, the young GM will face 24-year-old Vaishali Rameshbabu, the other woman in the Indian contingent in the tournament. Following up next is Aleksandra Goryachkina. Divya’s record against the highest-rated Russian player has been decent.
Divya, however, has a losing record against higher-rated Chinese GMs Zhu Jiner and Tan Zhongyi, who are also part of the tournament. If ended up successful against them, those will be crucial victories for her. Besides China, Divya has Kazakhstan’s GM Bibisara Assaubayeva as one of her biggest threats in the tournament. The two will face each other in the sixth round, followed by the last and 14th essays. Bibisara is a three-time reigning world blitz champion.
The Indian will compete against two-time European Women’s Champion Kateryna Lagno of Russia. The 36-year-old has won back-to-back games in the Kolkata event this year.
Divya has her work cut out while facing some of the top-seeded players in the tournament and getting her hands on the world champion title.
