Divya Deshmukh Falls to Hou Yifan, Bows Out of Women’s Speed Chess Championship
Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh’s campaign at the Women’s Speed Chess Championship 2025 ended in the quarterfinals after a narrow 9.5–10.5 loss to China’s world No. 1 Hou Yifan on Thursday, August 14.
The 18-year-old, who recently made history by winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, fought hard against the three-time world champion but fell just short. This was Divya’s first major outing since her World Cup triumph, a victory that also earned her the title of Grandmaster — only the fourth Indian woman to achieve the feat.
Divya had reached the last eight in style, overpowering Chinese GM Lei Tingjie 10–3 in the round of 16, winning eight games, drawing four, and losing just one. Lei had finished fourth in the World Cup earlier this year.
India’s other representative, R. Vaishali, exited in the opening round after a 6–8 loss to American IM Alice.
The Women’s Speed Chess Championship is a 16-player knockout event, featuring both direct invitees and qualifiers. Matches in the early rounds consist of three time-control segments — 5+1 blitz (45 minutes), 3+1 blitz (30 minutes), and 1+1 bullet (15 minutes). If scores are level, a four-game bullet tiebreak is played.
The semifinals and finals have longer segments, and the winner is decided by the highest cumulative score. The total prize pool is USD 75,000, with USD 7,000 for the champion. Ju Wenjun is the defending titleholder.
