Divya Deshmukh created history and etched her name in history books after she defeated Koneru Humpy to become a world champion. The first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup, Divya is also the youngest to achieve this milestone. Divya's title win saw her become a Grandmaster. She is only the fourth Indian to earn the coveted title. As India celebrates the World Cup win, here we know more about Divya Deshmukh. Divya was born on December 5, 2005, in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Her parents are doctors. She has an elder sister, who used to play badminton. Her sister's badminton classes had an important role in kicking off Divya's chess career. Speaking to the Indian Express in 2023, Divya revealed an interesting story and said: "I started playing the sport accidentally. My sister used to go to badminton classes, one day my parents took me as well. But I was just four or five years old then, and I didn’t even reach the badminton net. There was a chess class happening in the same building, so my parents took me there. I liked the sport. Then, I just stuck with chess." In 2020, she was part of India's gold medal-winning team at the FIDE Online Olympiad. She won the 2022 Women's India Chess Championship. She won an individual bronze in the same event in 2022. In 2023, she won the Asian Women's Chess Championship. In June 2024, Divya won the World Junior Girls' chess championship. The star chess player defeated Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva in the final. In June 2025, Divya defeated top-ranked Hou Yifan in the Blitz semifinals of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship. Divya has qualified for the Candidates tournament to be played in 2026. Humpy, who lost to Divya in the final, has also qualified for the prestigious tournament.