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Journalism of Courage
Ever since Divya Deshmukh became an overnight sensation with her triumph at the recently concluded Women’s World Cup, it was almost certain that the teenager would attract many eyeballs and keen observation of her games whenever she took on the world’s best.
After taking a small break from her schedule, post her historic success as the first Indian to win the World Cup, Divya was back in action this week for an online event.
She was soon presented with a litmus test, one that demanded the toughest answers in the shortest time. She competed in the 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, where, as the name suggests, she faced one of the best in the business in the fastest time control.
Divya was one of only two Indians in the fray for the title of queen of speed chess, alongside R Vaishali. But when Vaishali lost her Round-of-16 clash against USA’s IM Alice Lee, the onus shifted entirely to Divya.
Divya’s path to the top 16 was far from simple; she had to face China’s Lei Tingjie in the Round of 16. Like any elite Chinese player, Lei posed a familiar threat, one that has often overwhelmed Indian players in time scrambles. Having lost her World Cup semifinal to Koneru Humpy, Lei was determined to make amends against Divya in the speed chess event. But the 19-year-old Indian, playing the best chess of her career, dismantled Lei with ease, booking a quarterfinal clash against World No.1 Hou Yifan.
Divya’s fierce approach left Lei no room to recover, as the Chinese suffered a crushing 10-3 defeat, exiting the event surprisingly early. This set the stage for a dream showdown: Divya vs Hou Yifan, an in-form Indian prodigy against China’s greatest player, battling in blitz and bullet chess. Regardless of the result, one thing was certain that the duel would produce electrifying games when the two finally faced off.
Though Divya was riding an unprecedented career high, and Hou, now a semi-retired professional more inclined toward academia, the Chinese grandmaster still possessed enough strength to defeat any opponent, in any format, on any given day. Defeating Hou was never going to be a cakewalk for anyone and Divya’s attempt proved no exception.
Yet the teenager came out all guns blazing, surprising Hou with her sharp preparation. Defying expectations, she made early inroads, not only salvaging a draw from a worse position in the first game but soon surging to a 2.5-0.5 lead in the 5+1 minute format. Hou had no answers to the punches thrown by the Indian prodigy.
It was at this moment that Judit Polgar, the greatest female chess player of all time, weighed in. “How difficult it is for Hou Yifan, look at her body expression. The way she sits there now compared to the way was sitting in game one. She has to bounce back, she has to get back,” said Polgar to IM Jovanka Houska while commentating for the official broadcasters.
“She needs to show her resilience and say, “Come on, okay, I got a cold shower in game one and two in different ways, but I’m going to be back in business. I am going to show who is the boss, who has the experience,” and she (Hou) wants to give Divya a lesson, I’m pretty sure,” she added.
Divya proved to be an equal match for Hou throughout their encounter, holding her own despite her lead slipping once the match shifted to the 3+1 time format. Undeterred, she counterpunched, regaining the advantage in the 1-minute bullet segment.
“It’s an incredible kick from Divya, basically, it’s like she punched Hou Yifan, who was still feeling dizzy after that knock,” Polgar said.
Eventually, with nerves of steel, it was Hou who mounted yet another comeback, levelling the score at 9.5-9.5 before clinching the final tiebreak to advance.
“There was a lot of excitement and nerves. It was clearly a close, head-to-head battle between the two players,” Polgar remarked after the match.
The Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online single-elimination tournament featuring 16 players, comprising eight qualifiers and eight direct invites, competing for a total prize pool of $75,000.
All matches follow a three-segment structure with different time controls. In the round of 16 and quarterfinals, players first compete in 5+1 games (5 minutes with a 1-second increment per move) for 45 minutes, followed by 3+1 games (3 minutes + 1-second increment) for 30 minutes, and conclude with 1+1 games (1 minute + 1-second increment) for 15 minutes. The semifinals and finals expand these segments to 75 minutes of 5+1 games, 50 minutes of 3+1 games, and 25 minutes of 1+1 games. The scoring system awards 1 point for a win and 0.5 points to each player for a draw, with the match winner being the competitor who accumulates the most points across all segments.
