Divya Deshmukh Loses To Hou Yifan, Exits Women Speed Chess Championship

Last Updated:August 14, 2025, 20:40 IST

Divya Deshmukh suffered a close defeat against world No. 1 Hou Yifan of China in the quarterfinal of the Women's Speed Chess Championship 2025.

Divya Deshmukh is the first ever Indian to win Women's World Cup. (PTI Photo)

Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh on Thursday (August 14) suffered a heartbreaking against three-time world champion Hou Yifan in the quarterfinal of the Women Speed Chess Championship 2025. Divya, fresh from her historic triumph at the FIDE Women’s World Cup, went down by 9.5-10.5.

Divya had qualified for the quarterfinals of the championship after taking down another top player as she got the better of Chinese Grandmaster Lei Tingjie 10-3. Tingjie had finished fourth at the FIDE Women’s World Cup.

Divya won eight games, drew four and lost just one to enter the last-8.

Deshmukh recently became the youngest ever player in history to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup which was held in Batumi (Georgia). She defeated compatriot Koneru Humpy in the title clash.

This is her first major tournament since winning the global title – a result that also saw her become a Grandmaster – 88th from India. R. Vaishali, the other Indian who took part in the competition, was eliminated in the opening round following a 6-8 defeat to American IM Alice.

Divya is just the fourth Indian women in history to become a Grandmaster.

The Women’s Speed Championship is an online single-elimination event that features 16 players – eight are given direct invitation while eight are qualifiers.

The matches comprise three segments. For the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, the opponents play 5+1 games (45 minutes), 3+1 games (30 minutes) and 1+1 games (15 minutes). Should a match end in a tie, players contest a four-game 1+1 match.

For the semifinals and the final, the opponents play 5+1 games (75 minutes), 3+1 games (50 minutes) and 1+1 games (25 minutes).

Each win results in one point and a draw in 0.5 point each for the two opponents. The one with the maximum points at the end is declared the winner. The total prize money for the event is USD 75,000 and the winner pockets USD 7,000.

Ju Wenjun is the defending champion.

Feroz Khan

Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital...Read More

Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital...

Read More

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First Published:

August 14, 2025, 20:40 IST

News sports Divya Deshmukh Loses To Hou Yifan, Exits Women Speed Chess Championship

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