Farewell, Divya! Only Woman Competing At Chess World Cup Is Knocked Out
It's a sorry state of affairs for chess when there's only one woman among 206 competitors at its flagship World Cup being held in India.
But this is where the game finds itself. And, unfortunately, now there are none.
GM Diyya Deshmukh, one of the bright lights of Indian chess, and women's chess overall, was knocked out of FIDE's $2 million event in the first round on Sunday.
The winner of the FIDE Women's World Cup, held earlier this year, was only at the open event due to a late wild card granted by FIDE, but she had high hope of progressing further.
It was not to be. Having lost the first classical game on Saturday in her tie against Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos, Deshmukh was left needing a win on Sunday with the black pieces.
The dynamic Deshmukh went for it, but her opponent defended precisely. Kourkoulos went on to capitalize on Deshmukh's time trouble to convert in a rook ending. Deshmukh crashed out 2-0.
Deshmukh became a grandmaster this year after winning the Women's Chess World Cup 2025 in July. She was India's 88th grandmaster and the fourth Indian woman to hold the title.
Aged 19, she tops FIDE's "Girls" rating list with a rating of 2505. She is 41 in India's rankings. On the overall active list, however, she is 556.
Kourkoulos will now face another Indian star in GM Nihal Sarin in the second round. Sarin, along with Indian GMs Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R and Arjun Erigaisi, received a bye in the opening round.
The biggest upset from the first round was IM Shixu Wang knocking out yet another Indian hope (there are 24 in total), GM Leon Mendonca. Wang is rated 2402 to Mendonca's 2620.
On Monday, the tiebreaks from the unfinished Round 1 matches take place, before Round 2 starts on Tuesday. The tournament runs until November 26 at the Resort Rio's convention centre in Goa. You can get results and commentary from the event website here.
Despite her knockout, Deshmukh has a lot to look forward to. She is in the 2026 FIDE Women's Candidates, which may earn her a shot at the women's world title.