“Chess is not right. It’s a fight, do you know? Women are weaker fighters.”
This was a statement that he made at that time in 1989 by the undeniable King of Chess, Garry Kasparov to Playboy magazine. It was a statement that lifted the eyebrows and actually caused fire with female competitors. Then came Judit Polgar, who broke all the concepts of women in chess and became the first woman in the history of sports to reach 2700 assessments. Polgar competed against male competitors and even recorded his own Indian Viswanathan Anand.
Kasparov reached at the end of his career and accepted the defeat on the front that women could actually give men running for their money in chess.
Now the Indian Divya Deshmukh is ready to go along the path of Polgar.
Story Wonder is now known to all. A young, bright and confident girl who made all the noise by winning the women’s chess championship by defeating the countryman Humpy to become the first Indian. The praise of all corners followed and the celebrations were great, but Mladá Wonder now focuses on the candidate tournament.
Now, when we are preparing for a big tournament, such as candidates, we usually see stars trying to focus on some dynamics and experience. The difficulty level usually may not be high. Wonder, however, decided to take it to the notch.
Divya Deshmukh ready for Fide Grand Swiss 2025
With the dynamics of the World Cup victory in its corner, Wonder decided to participate in the open part of The Fide Grand Swiss 2025, which will start from September 3. The goal is for a 19 -year -old clear. He wants to play well on candidates and get into the World Cup match.
Now, if she enrolled in the female section for the Grand Swiss, she would have a great chance of winning the whole thing. Instead, she decided to embark on a journey that Humpy and Polgar set out in front of her, and fighting a man.
“Divya Deshmukh will play in the open part of Fide Grand Swiss 2025 in Samarkand after she received a wild card from President Fide. In July she won the World Women’s Fide Cup and became a great master.”
“Deshmukh and Aleksandra Goryachkin, who have already qualified for FIDE women, decided to apply for wild cards for Fide Grand Swiss Open to compete in the Great Swiss Swiss,” Fide read.
Grand Swiss offers two places for the winner and second, but with Wonder has already sewn its placeA 19 -year -old man decided to give priority to gaining experience by playing against men with a higher rating.
Not something new
Wonder is not the first Indian woman to compete in the open part of the main tournament. Several players from India and abroad have constantly chosen this journey and opposed the best.
One of the first pioneers was Rohini Khadilkar from India, which in 1977 became the first woman to participate in the Indian chess championship, the National Open event. Khadilkara’s integration was against some, which forced the then president of the World Chess Federation to decide that women could not be excluded from open competitions.
Grandmaster Humpy also competed at open events, especially at the national level, where she won a remarkable victory against big names. The Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu also competed in the open section. In 2023 Qatar Masters, a key step on her way to become a grandmaster.
Divya opens the door for more women in an open section
The challenge for more women in the open section is growing. The international champion and celebrated commentator Tania Sachdev said that women should compete more often to men, and at the same time ensure that female titles remain unaffected.
“I feel that young girls should play as many open tournaments as possible. They should train and compete against men and focus not only on tournaments for women,” Tania said, as Sportstar quoted, Chennai Grand Masters 2025.
“But I also feel that there is no need to take female titles. Because for many players it is aspiration and encouraging young girls to take the sport.
The Studya competition at the Great Swiss Chess will be hard. He will have the World Champion D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi for society as an open section will present some of the best India. However, expect a 19 -year -old woman to fulfill her billing, that he is a surplus sign. Although the aim may be candidates, you do not have to be surprised if a 19 -year -old man in competition pulls out some great victory.
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Published on:
August 17, 2025
