Teenager Divya Deshmukh Clinches India’s First Women’s World Cup Chess Title—with a Banana at Her Side

Nineteen-year-old Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh etched her name into history as India’s first Women’s World Cup chess champion on Monday, defeating legendary GM Koneru Humpy in a knife-edge rapid tie-break. Sitting beside her throughout the tension was an unlikely companion—a lone banana, untouched until the final move.

Despite playing Black in the decisive game—traditionally a slight disadvantage—Deshmukh navigated a tense 69-move battle. Humpy’s 40.e4 and 41.d5 presses forced 42…cxd5 from Deshmukh, but both veterans then traded inaccuracies under severe time pressure. When Humpy’s position collapsed after 69.h7, she resigned six moves later, handing the teenager a stunning victory.

The triumph crowned India’s 88th Grandmaster—and only the fourth Indian woman (after Humpy, D. Harika, and R. Vaishali) to earn the GM title. Remarkably, Deshmukh achieved this in one tournament, without the usual three-norm requirement.

Throughout the final, a banana sat by her scoresheet. Asked why, Deshmukh quipped, “If I start eating it, you’ll know I’m relaxed”—yet she never did, as each opponent foiled her snack break. Like Rafael Nadal’s water-bottle rituals or MS Dhoni’s glove-taps, the banana became her talisman.

As applause rang out in Batumi’s playing hall, Deshmukh—her eyes glistening—lifted the gold medal and the World Cup trophy. And while the banana remains unbitten, the victory proved far sweeter than any fruit could ever be.

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