It felt nicer to deliver for the team: Divya Deshmukh

India's rising chess star Divya Deshmukh shines at Chess Olympiad, leading Indian women's team to historic gold.

Divya Deshmukh was India’s go-to girl in Budapest.

So much so, even when she was almost unfit to play, she was fielded in India’s final round match. She won her game.

That was just another day at work for Divya at the Chess Olympiad. The Indian women’s historic gold was built around her solid show on the third board.

The 18-year-old from Nagpur played every 11 rounds at the Olympiad. And she remained unbeaten, winning eight games and drawing three.

“I was told beforehand that I would be required to play all the games, and it felt nice I could deliver for the team,” Divya told The Hindu on Monday. “We knew we had the team to win the gold. Yes, I wasn’t feeling after our match against Poland, but I decided to play on.”

She indeed was in superb form right through the tournament. That reflected in her rating performance, too. She has gained 17.5 point Elo points.

She scored 9.5 points at the Olympiad to take the individual gold on the third board. “I was expecting the individual gold, in fact,” says Divya, who was the youngest member of the women’s team. “But I was really glad that I could touch the 2500 mark in Elo points during the Olympiad; that was something I really wanted to.”