A triumphant campaign at a major chess event not only brings appreciation for the champion but it also increases curiosity about their support team.
It is no different in Divya Deshmukh’s case. The 19-year-old Divya created history by becoming the first Indian to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday as she took down compatriot Koneru Humpy in the final. At the same time, the girl from Nagpur also became country’s fourth female Grandmaster and qualified for FIDE Candidates 2026, a tournament to decide the challenger for reigning world champion Ju Wenjun of China.
While the legends as well as followers of the sport have hailed Divya for this historic achievement, they have also been wondering – who are the members of the Indian teenager’s team who helped her?
In a recent interview with IM Michael Rahal for FIDE, the global body running the sport, Divya finally revealed the team behind her success. “For this tournament, I was helped by Csaba Balogh. He’s from Hungary. He’s a really strong Grandmaster. He spent endless nights. I think he’s had a harder time with this tournament than I have. He’s got no sleep. He was the reason I had such good preparation,” said the teenager.
Balogh achieved the Grandmaster title in 2004. He was a member of the silver medal-winning Hungarian team at the 2014 Chess Olympiad.
“Also, I was helped by Abhimanyu Puranik for this tournament. He was always there to cheer me on,” she added.
Puranik is a 25-year-old Grandmaster from Mumbai. He finished second at the World Junior Chess Championship in 2018.
The run at the World Cup is another milestone for Divya who has shown tremendous growth in her young career. She is a triple gold medallist at the Olympiad and has won the World Junior Championship as well as the World Youth Championship.
