This final was historic in many ways. For one, Deshmukh knocked out some of the biggest names in the circuit, before setting up an intergenerational clash that saw her face off against India’s first woman GM – Koneru Humpy achieved the feat aged 15 years, one month and 27 days.
Moreover, no player from the country had previously progressed beyond the quarterfinals in this prestigious event, with Harika Dronavalli’s 2023 quarterfinal finish being the previous best performance.
The young prodigy will now return to Nagpur not just with the World Cup gold medal, a Candidates 2026 qualification spot, and $50,000 in prize money, but the prestigious Grandmaster title as well — an extraordinary achievement that would come as a bonus to her already remarkable performance. Only three other Indian women, Humpy, Harika and R. Vaishali, have GM titles.
Who is a Grandmaster?
Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. It is awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE, from its French acronym Fédération Internationale des Échecs), the global governing body headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Among the hierarchy of chess titles that include International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), and their female-specific counterparts (WGM, WIM, WFM, WCM), the Grandmaster title stands as the most prestigious and challenging to obtain.
What is the traditional path to becoming a GM?
The conventional route requires fulfilling two criteria simultaneously: winning three GM norms and achieving a Standard (Classical) FIDE rating of 2500 or above. Failure to meet either condition prevents a player from earning the GM title. Similarly, the IM title demands three IM norms coupled with a 2400+ rating.
The shortcut – Direct titles
However, FIDE’s regulations provide alternative pathways to the coveted GM titles. Certain exceptional tournament results can grant automatic titles or norms independent of the standard requirements.
According to FIDE’s “Table for Direct Titles” in their “International Title Regulations” (effective from May 1, 2025), winning specific elite competitions, including the Arab Individual Championship, Continental Individual Championship, Junior World Championship (Under 20), Women’s World Cup, or the World Cup, allows players to bypass the conventional norm and rating prerequisites.
Grandmaster N. Srinath offers an analogy. He says, “Some direct titles are possible to achieve by bypassing the norm and rating requirements of three GM norms and a rating of over 2500 to become a GM. To understand it better, think of it this way: It is like capturing the golden snitch in the game of Quidditch from Harry Potter instead of scoring goals through the Quaffle – an instant victory rather than accumulating points through conventional means.”
What is the FIDE Women’s World Cup, and why is winning this event significant?
The FIDE Women’s World Cup is a 107-player single-elimination knockout tournament, which is the most crucial event in the World Championship cycle, offering three qualifying spots for Candidates. The other pathways to qualify for the Candidates tournament are the Women’s Grand Prix Series 2024-25, and the Women’s Grand Swiss, both of which will provide two spots each, while the last spot is reserved for the highest-placed player in the ‘FIDE Women’s Events 2025-26’ series. The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, in this case, China’s Ju Wenjun.
What is a GM norm and how to earn it?
Earning a GM norm in chess is a challenging process governed by strict FIDE regulations. Typically, a player must compete in a tournament of at least nine games, though exceptions exist for shorter events, such as seven-game norms in World or Continental Team Championships and eight-game norms in the World Cup or Women’s World Championship.
To achieve a GM norm, a player must perform at a high level, achieving a tournament performance rating (TPR) of at least 2600. The competition must also include a strong field where at least 33% of the opponents must hold the GM title, and players from at least three different federations must participate. Some tournaments are specifically organised to help players secure norms by ensuring these conditions are met.
Ultimately, earning the full GM title requires three such norms across a minimum of 27 games, along with achieving a FIDE rating of 2500 at some point.
For the 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh, this tournament has served as a platform to realise her true potential by knocking out some of the biggest names in the circuit. (Photo credit: Anna Shtourman/FIDE) 
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