Indian chess needs sponsors, says Divya Deshmukh

Divya Deshmukh, World junior girls' chess champion, overcame pressure to win coveted title, highlighting rise of Indian chess.

She had a tough time handling the trophy. It stood nearly as tall as her.

Divya Deshmukh still managed to hold it for the pictures and then carried it to her room at the Gift City Club. And it was a trophy she had been dreaming about since she was little.

The 18-year-old from Nagpur said she was more relieved than happy to win the World junior girls’ chess championship.

She was not just the top seed, but her Elo rating of 2456 was 156 more than the second seed, and that meant she could barely afford to have a bad game.

“If she did, she would lose her hard-earned Elo points.

She didn’t have any real bad games, however. She won nine of her 11 games and drew the other two. She even ended up getting more than seven Elo points.

“There was the pressure of the Elo points, but including this one, I had the chance to play only two World junior championships and this is a tournament I always wanted to win,” Divya told The Hindu. “The fact that it was being held in India made my decision easier. Many of my opponents, like second seed Mariam Mkrtchyan (who finished runner-up), were better than their rating.”