The lightness of Divya Deshmukh, leader of Norway Chess Women tournament

Against Zhu, who’s being touted as a future women’s world champion and is already a world no 4, Deshmukh, playing with black pieces, was struggling out of the opening. But eventually at the end, she actually overpowered her opponent after finding herself a pawn up. With Deshmukh fighting with a rook and a knight and Zhu having a rook and a bishop, things were tricky before the Indian managed to break through in 84 moves.

“At some point during the game, I had lost hope,” Deshmukh later said on the Norway Chess’ official broadcast. “I was very lucky because I should have lost this game but I won it. The opening went terribly for me. I mixed up my preparation. I was in a miserable position throughout.”

Fellow competitors like Koneru Humpy and Anna Muzychuk have this year’s Norway Chess Women as one of the strongest women’s tournament fields ever assembled. Leading the tournament at the halfway mark is an indicator that she has not let the occasion overwhelm her, despite this being her first appearance at the event. She has after all won the FIDE Women’s World Cup the previous year and competed in the high-stakes Women’s Candidates a couple of months ago. Unlike others, she also competed in multiple open tournaments, opting to play against stronger male players which was detrimental to her rating, but helped her gain strength on the board.

There is a remarkable lightness around Deshmukh at a chess tournament, which shows in the other activities that top players are requested to do away from the chess board. Unlike other Indian prodigies who speedwalk past fans before the start of a game, she stops to indulge all selfie-seekers and autograph-hunters with a smile. Without it feeling like it’s an obligation.

Most Indians have avoided wandering into the confession booth — an innovation at Norway Chess, where players can walk into a sound-proof booth and speak their minds about anything under the sun without being asked a question — she became a regular during her early games.

“It’s a great stress relief,” said Deshmukh when asked about why she was visiting it. “Especially after you have been playing for so many hours you cannot talk, and you have to just listen to the voices in your head.”

On the Norway Chess games day on Friday, after the mandatory day of sailing at the Oslofjord was done, all other female players had made their way to the players hotel. Deshmukh, on the other hand, was cruising on a motorboat, taking over the steering wheel with Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer standing in the boat.

On the day she lost the Armageddon battle in the fourth round, Deshmukh was asked about her flashy white shoes with bows on them, and what it said about her fashion sense. It’s not usually a question that’s asked of a chess player in the playing hall.

“For me (my fashion) is kind of a stress relieving thing to do before a game. When I get ready, chess is the last thing on my mind,” said Deshmukh. “So that way it’s important. But generally I don’t care so much.”

(The writer is in Oslo at the invitation of Norway Chess)