Our Bureau
Goa
The reigning Women’s World Cup Champion Divya Deshmukh will be the lone woman to play in the Chess (Open) World Cup in Goa. It was announced that Divya was provided a wild card to enter the biennial chess tournament on Monday by the President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). This World Cup will be hosted by India and is set to take place in Goa from October 30 to November 27.
The 19-year-old Grandmaster Divya’s entry in the tournament has shocked everyone around but her entry wasn’t really a planned one. One of the qualified participants in the tournament had pulled out just at the last minute and that’s when the FIDE President was given a chance to assign one more wildcard and he added Divya to the tournament.
Confirming Divya’s entry, FIDE wrote on X, “Divya Deshmukh, the reigning Women’s World Cup winner, was awarded a wild card for the 2025 Goa World Cup by the FIDE President.”
It was also reported that Chinese Women chess stars – Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan, were invited to the event as well but they declined the invitation to participate. This has made Divya the only woman to be part of the World Cup that consists of 206 players who all have cleared various qualification criteria to participate in the tournament.
“The young India star recently competed at the FIDE Grand Swiss and now will fight for glory on her home soil in Goa,” wrote FIDE on X.
With the FIDE President announcing Divya as the wild card, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is expected to announce Indian wild card participant. The major names from India that will be competing in the tournament such as reigning world champion D Gukesh, top seed Praggnanandhaa R, and Arjun Erigaisi.
