They also won the Olympiad gold in what was a sensational 2024 for Indian chess. One of them went onto win the World Rapid Championship and another claimed bronze in World Blitz. Yet, their performance got overshadowed by the men.
As 2025 comes to an end, India’s women chess players can hold their head equally high once again. They possibly outshone their male counterparts. The reading doesn’t look good at the ongoing World Blitz meet in Doha, where the last few matches will be played today. Overall, what they have done is nothing short of fantastic.
A few facts. Divya Deshmukh became the youngest-ever to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup. Koneru Humpy came agonisingly close to defending her World Rapid title before settling for bronze. R Vaishali won the Grand Swiss meet. All three qualified for the 2026 Women’s Candidates to be played in March-April. In comparison, R Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian in the open category of the eight-player event, the winner of which challenges the world champion.
Vaishali’s younger brother, Praggnanandhaa, had a great year and won four titles. Arjun Erigaisi finished third in World Rapid. He is doing well in the Blitz event also. Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram had a few good outings and fizzled out in the rest. The players in the men’s section at times did very well and sometimes not so well. World champion D Gukesh had an ordinary year and lost to a 12-year-old in the World Blitz.
Although the women are not having a good run at the World Blitz, they were tremendous in the World Rapid held immediately before it. Humpy finished third, B Shri Savitha fourth, Vaishali fifth and Divya eighth. D Harika at 19th made it five Indians in the top 20. No other country had as many.
There were other significant finishes as well. Humpy was the losing finalist at the World Cup. She won one and finished runner-up in another in the six-leg FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. Divya and Harika came third in two other legs. Vaishali defended her Grand Swiss crown. All four are in the top-20 in the classical format in women’s world rankings, Humpy being the No. 5.
For over two decades, Humpy stood alone when it came to Indian players at the world level. Harika has also been around at slightly behind for a long time. The next rung was not coming up. Divya, 20, and Vaishali, 24, have answered that question. These two players, along with the 23-year-old Vantika Agarwal, have risen as the next generation of women’s chess in the country.
Speaking at the RevSportz Trailblazers conclave in Kolkata in March, Viswanathan Anand had mentioned this shortcoming in the women’s section while acknowledging and hailing the rise of the boys. In just over nine months, these women have shown that there is progress and continuity after last year’s Olympiad gold. Looking ahead to the next year, this augurs well for the holistic growth of Indian chess.
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