Divya Deshmukh clinches Women's Chess World Cup gold: How much prize money will she receive?

. Indian chess prodigy Divya Deshmukh became the youngest to win the FIDE Women's World Cup on Monday at just the age of 19, outshining the seasoned Koneru Humpy in the tie-breaker of an all-Indian final.

With her win, a feat that left the teenager emotional, Deshmukh not only earned the prestigious title but also became a Grandmaster.

The victory for the Nagpur player came after the two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday ended in draws.

After the drawn games, it was the first set of tiebreakers that proved decisive as Humpy lost her ground.

Divya Deshmukh became the 88th Grandmaster of the country, as she emerged victorious over Humpy at the FIDE Women's World Cup. She his now the fourth Indian woman player to achieve the GM feat after Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and R Vaishali.

“I need time to process it (win). I think it was fate, me getting the Grandmaster title this way because before this (tournament) I didn't even have one (GM) norm, and now I am the Grandmaster,” she said.

Divya Deshmukh secured a gold, Humpy Koneru pocketed silver, while China's sensation Tan Zhongy finished the tournament with a bronze medal.

This means Divya Deshmukh received a prize money of $50,000, or roughly ₹43.5 lakh for winning the prestigious championship.

The FIDE World Cup also awards three spots to the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament to be held in the first half of 2026.

However, the prize money is significantly lower than that of the FIDE World Cup (Open section, which includes both men and women), where the winner gets $110,000.

During the tense contest, a string of inaccuracies in the second rapid game contributed to Koneru's downfall. She found herself a pawn down in the rook endgame, which played out in Divya's favour. The veteran allowed the situation to sink in and resigned on the 75th move and fell short in a gripping final with a score of 2.5-1.5.