The Indian chess grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, winner of the Chess Olympiad with the women's team (2024 in Budapest), will compete in the A-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2025 in Dortmund. Deshmukh, born in Nagpur in 2005, has held the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) since 2021 and International Master (IM) since 2023.
Deshmukh is currently playing successfully at the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 and has just entered the fourth round after defeating Teodora Injac.
Her most impressive achievements in her still young career include:
Team gold at the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad
Gold with the women's team and individual gold medal on the third board at the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest
World U-20 Junior Champion title 2024 with 10 points out of 11
Asian Women's Individual Title 2023
As one of the up-and-coming players in world chess, she is expected to become one of the world's top players in the near future. The young Indian is currently ranked 18th in the world.
In Dortmund, Deshmukh will therefore start the tournament as favourite for the prize for the best woman in the highly endowed A-Open. But she certainly wants to knock on the top door and annoy the established grandmasters around Matthias Blübaum and Dmitrij Kollars at the Alte Schmiede cultural centre.
With her participation in the renowned A-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy, the top line-up for this tournament will be strengthened once again in Dortmund. And the organisers are also underlining their focus on promoting the best women in chess outside of the closed International Women's Tournament of the Chess Days.