Fresh from winning the Women’s World Cup title in Georgia last month, teen sensation Divya Deshmukh broke into the top 15 of FIDE’s world women’s classical chess rankings for the first time in her career.
The 19-year-old Divya’s victory over compatriot Koneru Humpy in the World Cup final helped her become India’s 88th Grandmaster, besides earning a spot at the Candidates tournament in 2026.
In FIDE’s latest update, Divya gained 15 rating points to get to 2478, jumping three ranking spots to sit 15th in the world. There are two more Indians in the top 15 with Harika Dronavalli (2487) at 12th and Humpy (2535) at sixth.
The top five spots in the women’s rankings are all occupied by Chinese chess players: Hou Yifan (No. 1 with 2607), Ju Wenjun (No. 2 with 2570), Lei Tingjie (No. 3 with 2565), Tan Zhongyi (No. 4 with 2539) and Zhu Jiner (No. 5 with 2536).
In the open category, Magnus Carlsen continued his stay at the top of the classic ranking table.
There are three Indians in the top six with R. Praggnanandhaa occupying the fourth position with 2779 points followed by World champion D Gukesh at No. 5 with 2776 points and Arjun Erigaisi at No. 6 with 2776 rating points. Praggnanandhaa also tops the FIDE Circuit 2025, which will offer a spot for the 2026 candidates.